Until today, I didn’t realize that this was part of the budget deal.
A rider in the budget bill to keep the federal government in operation has triggered fury among some wildlife groups because it would remove certain wolves from the endangered species list.
I’m not sure what Obama’s side got for it, and I didn’t want the government shut down, so I won’t comment on if it’s good as part of the budget package. But on its own, it stinks. It’s a bad idea, and a worse precedent.
Instead of letting the best science prevail, or forcing the states with dwindling wolf populations to come up with a reasonable recovery plan, it just bypassed the whole process. Even if you agree with the bill’s proponents about the merits of wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies, and you accept that legislation singling out one species is a good idea, it’s only reversible through legislation, so if populations do decline, this law will still be on the books. And surely in the future, with this on the books, we’ll have more states demanding stupid exceptions.
In any event, what right wing Republican nut job thought this would be a good idea?
“Right now, Montana’s wolf population is out of balance and this provision will get us back on the responsible path with state management,” Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, said in a written statement. He said he wrote the language together with Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho.
Awesome. John Tester is so far out there, he has Ron Fucking Paul making sense.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, said the inclusion of such a rider “doesn’t make any sense.”
“And it really shows how out of touch so many people are here in Washington and how unlikely it is that we will get to the bottom of our problems,” Paul said in an interview this week with CNN.
WTF??? The courts can’t look at some aspect of American law? I’d like to see if that would hold up in court.
Defenders of Wildlife can be a little whacky and out there at times, I wouldn’t take their word alone on something.
Two can play this game! In the next budget bill (and there will be one), let’s stick in a rider that takes away the wolf-hating ranchers’ federal subsidies — make ’em pay the market cost of their irrigation water, grazing their herds on federal lands, etc. Then they’ll know what it feels like to be an endangered species.
Right now Montana’s 20 acre trophy ranch owning yuppie population is out of balance. Let’s get a bill that puts that back in balance. We can start by getting rid of the tax breaks people get on second homes.
Roger Rabbit Quiz
Okay kiddies, it’s time for the Roger Rabbit Quiz! This two-parter is a toughie, so put on your thinking caps, and don’t shoot from the lip!
Question #1
What percentage of the U.S. beef supply is raised west of the Mississippi River by western ranchers in western states?
a. [ ] 90%
b. [ ] 75%
c. [ ] 50%
d. [ ] 36%
e. [ ] 10%
Question #2
Which state is the U.S.’s top beef producer?
f. [ ] Texas
g. [ ] Montana
h. [ ] Colorado
i. [ ] Illinois
j. [ ] Florida
(Answers will be posted later.)
@3 “We can start by getting rid of the tax breaks people get on second homes.”
Why go halfway? Let’s eliminate the mortgage deduction altogether! All it does is create market distortions that lead to overbuilding, as we’ve recently seen. The mortgage deduction is a throwback to the 1950s, when the nation had to provide housing for millions of returning veterans and the new families they were starting, and has outlived its usefulness.
We need the wolves to clean up the dead carcasses of all the livestock that will be laying around in Montana and Wyoming after the winds carry the Japanese radiation here.
@4
Who’s top doesn’t really matter (but I think it’s FL). What matters is that we move away from producing our protein in CAFO’s, huge fucking corporations being in charge of our food, and corporate welfare in the food web . As much as we can, we should be getting locally produced food grown by people who are working for themselves and their customers and own their own land.
West of the Mississippi is mostly short grass prairie, mountains, and desert. Crappy places to raise cattle.
@5
I was talking about mending the over population of yuppies in western Montana. I’m all for eliminating the mortgage deduction.
@4 The correct answers are e. and j.
In short, all that taxpayer money we pour into western ranches and farms (on average, more than $2 million per ranch or farm) subsidizes a lifestyle, not food production. The western states produce very little of our food.
So why do we give those cowboy wannabes so much federal money to live in a movie-western life? Don’t we have enough movie westerns already? Because the 1,214 voters in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Colorado get 8 U.S. senators between them, the same as the tens of millions of folks living in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
@9
Some of that money goes to support a lifestyle, most of it goes to large corporations and their shareholders.
When I was in college down South, a million years ago, it was popular for grocery stores to market their beef as “western grain-fed beef.” The ads were complete with cowboys and other images right out of Old West mythology. I recall my meats lab professor telling us that government regulations permitted anyone to label their beef as “western” beef as long as it was raised to the west of where it was sold. Essentially, he told us, most of us were eating beef from no more than a couple of counties over.
I can’t vouch for the veracity of the professor’s claim; but it certainly fed my natural skepticism toward anything with an “official” government stamp of approval.
It’s “Grey Wolves” not ‘Gray Wolves’. Sheesh! Can’t you Dumbocraps get your facts straight??
So what’s wrong with Ron Paul, Carl? I’m planning on voting for him in 2012. Thought I’d vote for him for president and Dennis Kucinich for vice-president. That would certainly be a lively duo!
You jerks couldn;t balance your budget busting spendaholic ways if you taxed millionaires 100%. Obama’s deficit reduction BS is just that! BS
Oh by the way Silver was up another $20 per ounce and gold $20.
Wonder which Liberal GENIUS on this site can explain that!
LD,
I don’t think silver went up $20 per ounce today. Last time I checked, silver was trading on the futures at about $41 or so. It didn’t make a $20 move today.
I say release the Wolves in downtown Seattle
and cleanup the Rabbit and woodcarver overpopulation. They’re very similar in protein. HAHAHAHAHAHA
@12,
Canis lupus can be referred to as either gray or grey. Common English and quoted article call it gray, so I went with that. Sheesh, you Republojackasseswhocantevenbothertolookshituporevenfollowamotherfuckinglink.
# 1: It’s not commonly known, but Congress has control of the jurisdiction of the federal courts, except for those types of cases set forth specifically as part of the “original jurisdiction” of the court. Art. III, Sec. 2 states, in relevant part, that
As my old football coach used to say, that’s a hole big enough to drive a dump truck through. If Congress wants to remove something from judicial review, it can do so, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the “original jurisdiction” of the court. Of course, environmental laws protecting wildlife owe their very existence to Congressional enactments, and what Congress gives, Congress can also take away.
I’m not saying I agree with using the budget battle to slip through other controversial legislation, but it is Constitutional.
Perhaps what we should be doing is combing through the bill to make sure there aren’t any other provisions in there, like the one which Rove & Co. slipped into a conference bill allowing Bush to fire Assistant Attorney Generals at will, and then replace them without Senate approval. That was done, of course, to make examples of Assist. Attorney Generals who didn’t pursue partison prosecutions, and replace them with ones who could be relied upon to do so.
Yawwn.. Yet another asset bubble… Too much free cash trying to maximize return.
It’d be nice if governments taxed that money away to build/repair infrastructure and give people jobs and incomes.
Notice I said jobs for infrastructure – we get something out of the deal aside from a temporary blip in the consumption numbers – which is what those bogus Bush tax rebates did.
Heh. The orange man didn’t want to shutdown the government. Had been there done that with Newtie.
i.e. he blinked. Try a tea bagger next. That’ll be entertaining. Someone more insane than Newt.
It was Baucus. Messina is his protege. Or the Al Qaeda.
In the meantime, Dennis Miller (who’s a jerk on so many levels, and hasn’t been funny for at least a couple of decades) recently said on TV that the people with all the money are the hard workers, and those who don’t have it are lazy “losers”. Of course, he’s all for more tax breaks for the rich, who he feel “deserve it”, and putting the tax burden on the poor and middle-class “losers”, instead.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Chevron made $53 million last year. That’s about 1,000 times the salary of the avereage college-educated person in this area. So how is this person an example of someone who works harder than the average “lazy loser”?
Does this CEO work 1,000 times faster than the average college-educated worker? If so, he’s moving at above the speed of sound.
Does this CEO work 1,000 times longer hours per year? There are 8,760 hours in a year (leap year excluded), assuming one works seven days a week, 24 hours a day, including holidays. Even then, he’s still earning $6,050.23 per hour – considerably more than any other non-executive salary.
Perhaps he’s 1,000 times smarter than the average person? Somehow I doubt his IQ score is 10,000. I’ll bet there are quite a few classmates and fellow co-workers who would dispute this, as well.
Miller should have learned by now that attempts to turn this from a fiscal issue into a moral issue only works for the liberals. It only works for the right wing if you are prepared to engage in absurd generalities or outright lies. Which makes Miller a jerk AND an idiot AND a liar.
“Does this CEO work 1,000 times longer hours per year? There are 8,760 hours in a year (leap year excluded), assuming one works seven days a week, 24 hours a day, including holidays. Even then, he’s still earning $6,050.23 per hour – considerably more than any other non-executive salary.”
If the Chevron CEO wants to take a nap on the next holiday, I’ll volunteer to do his duties on that day for $6,050.23 per hour, up to 12 hours. Then maybe I can afford to take a really nice two-week vacation next year. I haven’t been able to get away from work long enough to do that for the past, oh, decade or so.
Lame!
Dennis Miller’s best joke of the last 20 years was color announcing Monday Night Football..
Not that anything that came out of his mouth was funny or the least bit memorable.
Just his presence was a joke and a bad joke at that.
Obama lets loose on the hot mike!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-50.....03544.html
America’s accountant! That is too precious. Paul Ryan [Randroid-WI] is yet another in a long line of miserable right wing hypocrites.
@4 and @9
roger rabbit is full of crap.
Florida isnt anywhere close to being a top beef producer.
THE REAL FACTS ARE THESE:
Number Head (in millions) % of U.S.
1. Texas ———-13.8——- 14.3%
2. Kansas ———6.7 ——–6.9
3. Nebraska ——6.6 ——–6.8
4. California ——5.5 ——–5.6
5. Oklahoma —–5.4 ——–5.6
6. Missouri ——-4.3 ——–4.5
7. Iowa ———–4.0 ——–4.1
8. South Dakota 3.7 ——–3.8
9. Wisconsin —–3.4 ——–3.5
10. Colorado —–2.8——– 2.8
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What.....z1Jc94vcnl
typical lying progressive lawyer.
@25
Miller’s humor is far too intelligent for people like you to understand.
28 – Yeah that’s why he’s a superstar on Monday Night Football and does stand-up before Sunday games on Fox.
Oh he’s not either of those things!
Obviously football fans are too dumb or Dennis Miller can’t make people laugh to save his miserable right wing ass.
@29
your right…he’s only been a successful comedian for 30 years…but cant make anybody laugh.
do you actually read the crap you post?
BTW, I saw him live a few weeks ago…great show.
30 – I don’t have to read my own stuff. I write it and I stand by it.
I read yours instead and I feel embarrassed for humanity.
Outstanding that Miller makes a living, a decent one apparently, reinforcing the prejudices of bigoted louts.
@9
the rabbit barfs:
The western states produce very little of our food.
yet more proof that the rabbit is a nutball and lost all sense of reality.
LMAO!! This is really funny!
And take a wild guess at who I’m laughing AT!
@33
so you are saying you agree with roger that the western states dont produce very much food and that florida is the #1 beef producer?
is that what you are saying? I think it is.
owned.
Let’s enshrine that for a bit. Cuz’ it’s the funniest freaking thing since:
LMFAO….so I see you wont address the subject at hand.
fuckign OWNED biznatch!
YLB thinks florida is the #1 beef producer in the US…HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
maybe you and roger can go out to dinner and order some prime USDA t-bones from florida
HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHHAHA
does the word sycophant mean anything to you? it should……
Grade A ownage.
“pwn3d”
“both parties teh suck”
“politics teh suck (that’s why I’m here every day)”
“dori’s cool”
blah, blah, blah..
hows that florida steak tasting ylb?
all your food comes from the east coast, because you know the western states dont really produce any food.
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
notice how YLB will do anythign but comment on the subject
massive, back-breaking ownage.
Heh. The subject I’m discussing is what a moron you are.
Talk about anything you want. If it’s stupid (99.9 percent of the time it is) I’ll make fun of it at your miserable expense.
I’ll let the rabbit speak for himself.
37 – Hey I’ll add to that list:
“dennis miller teh hilarious!”
heh..
mmmmmmmmm…..floriday prime rib tastes TEH YUMMEE!
rabbit reminds me of mr magoo…..
Do any of the ‘libertarians’ here know what the Austrian School of economics is?
I doubt it — because they’ve never mentioned it.
@43
Ive never heard you mention anything about Pearl Jam…so I assume you have never heard of them.
…just using your logic there big guy.
You remind me of Deputy Doo-Doo.
and you remind me a pasty, limp wristed girly-man.
just keeping real.
is roger going to order you some of his florida beef?
Got “teh lame” to go with that stink?
Deputy Doo-Doo?