Re: #22 Randal:

My apologies for using mulitsyllabic words in my previous post. (Oops, sorry, I meant to say “big” words). I should have been more sensitive to your apparent self admitted inability to process words beyond four or five letters. Oh and by the way, in case you hadn’t noticed, which apparently you hadn’t, my first use of a “big” word “momentous” was a QUOTE, not my usage although, as you have observed, I do tend to use “big” words to express myself and have, in fact, used it many times.

As far as “make(ing) Democrats look like the enemy” I prefer “exposing Democrats AS the enemy”.

Your attribution of “Einstein” to me, although appropriate, was taken as a rather snarky personal aside. Not a good debate technique Randal. You lose that point.

Regarding the politicians in Washington, I agree with you to a certain degree although we may disagree on the percentage of the “scumbags”. 99% seems a bit high but I’ll defer to your obvious inside knowledge as to the numbers although I’m having trouble figuring out how 99% equates to “ALL”.

From your #3 post there is one thing on which we can and do agree and I’m happy to see that you don’t want to see this legislation passed but then you go on to the moral equivalency argument that both parties have used the self executing rule and that whoever it’s being used against protests its use. I understand that your “point” was that all politicians complain when the rules don’t favor them but then you go on to imply that Republicans have no reason to complain since; “When in actuality, Repubs. have used it more the Dems”.

I guess it was then that I got off your point of “all politicians are scumbags” and was interested in what I perceived as your intimate knowledge of the specifics of legislation passed by SER.

Sincerely sorry to have gotten your panties all in a wad by misunderstanding your position and my exceptional use of the English language. Please accept my apology.

And sorry about all the “big” words. I just can’t help myself. Call it a gift.

Have a nice day!

I’ve known a few politicians (a very few) personally that I thought of as decent, upstanding, hard working guys. One was a former police officer, the other was an American Government teacher in my first college in WV. Those were both state level politicians, though, and it’s a little harder to escape repercussions when you spend a decent chunk of your year in your district.

Other than that, I’ve met a bunch of arrogant, conceited, self-centered blankity-blanks that would make me check to see if my wallet was still there afterwards.

Hey Einstein, it doesn’t matter!!! Either way, any way, both ways are WRONG.

They’re ALL bad: Democrats, Republicans, politicians in general; 99% of the politicians in Washington are scumbags who are looking out for number 1.

Once all of the current morons are voted in November, a new group of morons will move in right behind them.

Your response was pretty much what I expected. The number of uses, no specifics on what legislation was passed using this “technique”.

The tactic — known as a “self-executing rule” or a “deem and pass” — has been commonly used, although never to pass legislation as momentous as the $875 billion health-care bill. (Washington Post article 3-16-2010)

The House Speaker is quoted as saying “I like it because people don’t have to vote on the Senate bill”

But former federal circuit court judge Michael McConnell says:

“Under Article I, Section 7, passage of one bill cannot be deemed to be enactment of another”.

“The Slaughter solution attempts to allow the House to pass the Senate bill, plus a bill amending it, with a single vote”. “The senators would then vote only on the amendatory bill”. “But this means that no single bill will have passed both houses in the same form”.

“As the Supreme Court wrote in Clinton v. City of New York (1998), a bill containing the “exact text” must be approved by one house; the other house must approve “precisely the same text.” http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/03/16/if-the-house-enacts-the-senate-health-care-bill-without-voting-on-it/

Oh, and by the way, I did check to see what the Republicans used the self executing rule for and the amendments to the legislation ranged from prohibiting smoking on domestic airline flights to changes related to asylum law. So far I haven’t found one instance where the Republicans have used it to fundamentally change our way of life.

But I’m sure that to you, it makes no difference.

If it ever came down to violence in the streets, and I for one do not wish it to ever come to that, nor, would I run away if it did, we would need Wyatt more as a “Francis Marion” type anyways. Wearing that SS uniform but feeding us info like where the next raid was coming from
and good times and places for ambushes and other PC (Patriotically Correct) actions

I guess it’s not obvious enough that I don’t care for any political party, but I try to be even handed and not hate just based on the D behind the name. I’m fairly conservative on a lot of issues, and relatively liberal on several. I’m sort of libertarian, but some of the ideas they have are a little nuts too.

I just don’t want to come off as “It’s all Obama’s fault!!!” when I think the problems have just been growing for a long time. He certainly is an easy target to blame, but it’s a much broader problem that was created on both sides of the aisle. Obama certainly isn’t doing anything to help though.

PhillipC – I remember hearing about how “Bush divided the country.” Obama, they said, would “bring everyone together.” Yeah, how’s that working out for ya?