I don't put all the blame on Bush, I just give him his share of it. The lobbyists aren't the problem. And that argument won't work. Sorry. That's like blaming the gun for the crime instead of the wielder of it. Any politician up there can have the moral fortitude and strength of character to refuse bribes and represent US. When they do not stand up, that is their fault. It cannot in any way be laid off upon the lobbyists. The lobbyists don't make the decisions for the politicians. They may make offers; but, the politician can always say "no." Bush bears blame right along with every other politician up there that voted for all this crap. And any of you that sided with them bears equal blame for not standing up for America instead of your own greedy self interests. If you couldn't tell, I'm not much one for sugar coating or pulling punches. Nor do I allow people to play semantics games as a copout or to minimize.
Yeah, you do have a strong point there, the politicians can always tell the lobbyists to go take a hike. I know I would. I would vote my conscience on what is good for America in the long term, not for the short term gain. Yeah, myself, I like to tell it like it is. Sure, if you are up there out of the trenches, you can say everything is OK, but for us grunts down here on the front line, it is not always the case. I know myself, I do see a lot of Clintonian semantic shifting rhetoric coming from the Republican side on this issue, I do remember they came down on him for that tactic, and rightly so, but when they do it, their word is gospel. There are many, many Democrats who drink the Kool-Aid, but many Republicans drink their own flavor of it too.
BTW, noticed you are into radio too, I like to collect and work on old radios and would like to tackle my 1970 Zenith color TV (made in USA, 23 inch screen, the biggest at the time) and use it again. There is a site on the web,
Reel Radio that has old radio clips on it. I'm listening to an old clip from September 1st, 1967 from Chicago's WCFL ("The Voice of Labor," it was owned by the CFL at the time), it was one of Chicago's top rockers at the time. I was only a year old at that time, but if I was older, I would most likely be trying to pull it in at night with a transistor radio under my pillow. B-)
Getting back on topic, pinging the usual crowd.
I was very distressed to hear this news. It's not in my state, but it's happening all over, and my heart goes out to those workers and their families.
They will find it nearly impossible to find comparable jobs at comparable pay. I don't know what they will do.
I'm going to try to read up on some of these issues. I fail to see how service jobs are going to be good for our country in the long run.
Maybe a third viable party will emerge, but the powers that be will do everything in their power to maintain the status quo.
Regarding the lobbyists. They have the collective clout and money to back them. Money always talks. Individual voices with no political clout are ignored because we, the little people, are no threat to any of them.
I'd like to see lobbies done away with. They are causing much harm, and the legislation that is going through the house and the senate, no matter which party, much does not represent the voice of the people. Lobbies and big money interests are controlling us, and it is we who should be controlling them, by we, I mean the people and not the government.
We aren't allowed to vote on very critical issues, just vote for the people who make the decisions for us and which issues are swept under the carpet every election cycle.