Hollywood & Congress - behind the 8 ball

Mata To Alia: Greetings from the famed FL battleground state, mon pal. I can honestly say the 80 degree temps and incessent sunshine has not slowed down my keepings up on the int'l and nat'l doin's. But sans DSL and only one phone line? Now THAT is a deterrent to posting! But there are a couple that caught my eye to put up, as well as that fab little "thank you" quote from one of our American warriors in Iraq.

But I shall be returning soon enough to the wet and clouds of Oregon and my rants and dissertations will grace (or dis-grace??) your blogspot once more.

Sure wish I could bottle some of this sunshine for the Are-We-Gone types.... I could make a fortune.

On to the news...

A Hush Over Hollywood

Pat Sajak blasts Hollywood's silence on van Gogh's murder

Mata Musing: I was wondering when someone would find the cajones to bring this one up. As an ex-member of the film-noir, self-centered set, I found it of no surprise that the the obvious parallels were totally ignored. Michael Moore and ilk find it more profitable - and no doubt, safer - to bad mouth America instead.

As for the below... it's the first example of the pressure now on the GOP. With Republicans now in control of both houses and the White House, there is little room to excuse failure by blaming the opposition party over the next few years. And anything that happens can and will be held against them. Stellar performance is a must to maintain some party credibility.

Personally I think Congress is in serious need of a house cleaning, myself. I'd support term limits if those putz's would actually agree to pass a law, limiting their power. But can you say "hell freezes over"?

The spending bill in question is a prime example of these political powerhouses not exercising due diligence in their job. What is so difficult about the man I voted for reading these bills as they come up? Granted, having specialists help with interpretation is warranted. But truth is, the Congressional members "outsource" so much of their daily tasks (like reading bills...) to aides and lord knows who else that I have to ask myself... just what is it they *do* besides give pompous orations and campaign endlessly? When one watches C-Span and we see that empty room, one has to wonder if we have elected officials present in Washington at all.

It is a heads up to we voters that we can only put so much blame on Commanders in Chiefs, who effectively have such a short time to influence legislation when compared to the life-time terms of these Senators and House Representatives. It is they who truly yield the power, and must accept most of the moral responsibility of why our intelligence communities were so inadequate to combat terrorists threats.

Why you can't trust Congress

By Paul Greenberg

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you
were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. - Mark Twain

Acting with more speed than judgment, the U.S. Senate has approved an omnibus spending bill that its members were given only a few hours to review. Only the Lord and a few select lobbies may know what all is in this monster bill, which is really nine bills rolled into one, seven of which were never fully reviewed and debated in the Senate. That's the U.S. Senate, which used to be called the World's Greatest Deliberative Body.

When it rushed this bill into law, the world's greatest deliberative body dispensed with deliberation. That's no way to make law, or rather it's a good way to make bad law.

One lulu of a clause in this 3,000-page mother of all spending bills gave the chairmen of the two congressional committees on appropriations - or anyone they designate! - the authority to examine any citizen's tax return, including yours, Gentle Taxpayer. And even make it public. Notwithstanding any and all of the laws now on the books that make it a criminal offense to violate the privacy of a citizen's tax return.

(snip)

How did this language get into the bill? Not even the Republican leadership in the Senate seemed aware of it. "Something happened in the middle of the night," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. "The Senate was totally amazed." Her astonishment was echoed by Arizona's John McCain, who said the way the clause was slipped into this $388-billion spending bill showed "the system is broken."

One of the bill's Republican backers in the House - Oklahoma's Ernest Istook - says it's all a misunderstanding, and that nobody wants to look at anybody's tax return. The controversial provision, he explains, was just a way of assuring congressional access to IRS offices where tax returns might be stored. It's all part of Congress' duty to provide oversight, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then how did this all-encompassing language get into the bill? The congressman says it was drafted by the IRS or some congressional staffers, not his office. (A faceless bureaucracy is so much easier to blame than anyone in particular.)

(snip) continue reading at link above