Congress fundraising specialists - no work

Our congressmen are finally coming back to DC after another long vacation. Yes, they return to work at 2PM on Monday. I call this the three day work-"week" because they will probably have a short day on Friday. They will work for a few weeks, then start the holiday breaks. But don't expect any real work out of these people. I assume there will just be more of the same - fighting, repeating party lines and lots of TV sound bites. The goal for Republicans will be blocking all efforts to get anything done, as requested by the President. Reducing the deficit by eliminating the Dept. of Education, Planned Parenthood and the EPA, cutting Social Security, turning Medicare into a $6,000 voucher system, protecting tax cuts for the multimillionaires and billionaires,etc., will have the Republicans again dig in their heels. I predict the super-committee will be pressured into ineffectiveness.

Just how polluted are our waters?

Just how polluted are our waters?

I saw a film yesterday discussing how many of the fish we eat are laden with worms and must be protected from bacterial and fungal infections. Hence, the fish caretakers lift the fish in batches out of the water and give each fish inoculations to keep them healthy and alive. So much for the healthy fish diet. We must keep our waters clean and clean up the messes we have ignored for too many years.

Congress adjourns for week with no help to citizens

Congress is unable to function and will lead our country into further disaster.The dysfunction and political division has made Congress a place for grandstanding and hot rhetoric, but at the cost of national unemployment and no confidence in the economy. Politicians can't even decide if the federal government should give FEMA money to help citizens who are victims of national disasters. Republicans say they will vote to fund FEMA, if the money comes from current programs that help US children and the poor.
I think most Americans want to help people who suffer from natural disasters. The stagnation in Congress is hurting us all - a different type of national disaster. Republicans had hoped they could force Senate Democrats to accept a partisan budget cut on the threat that disaster victims would otherwise be deprived of assistance for days or even weeks.
We in the valley must assuredly work to get Denham out of the valley as a representative. We will never get a reduction in the deficit via the congressional super-committee with this group in office - that means cuts in Medicare, social security, medicaid, etc.. We must vote the obstructionist Republicans out in 2012, so we can move forward.
Then, after spending billions of dollars fighting whether to fund FEMA or fighting  to suspend clean air and water regulations and spend billions on studies to see if clean air improves health, the Congress adjourns for a week-long vacation.
This Congress takes too much time arguing and needs to spend more time in DC in session working and attempting to come to some needed agreements.
Americans are suffering, but congressmen are deaf to the cries.

Denham wants EPA out as he violates ethical standards

Rep. Jeff Denham (CD 19 Stanislaus,Fresno, Turlock, Madera, Sonora) spoke in the House on Sept. 23rd  urging the House to pass the Train Act and give the job of information gathering required in the Act to his friends in the House balcony. Republicans feel the EPA is a rogue agency and want to end the regulation of mercury, etc.
HOUSE’S TRAIN ACT THREATENS TO DERAIL CLEAN AIR | “The House is slated to vote this week on a proposal that mandates at least a years-long delay of two major air pollution rules and, senior Democrats say, badly weakens EPA’s ability to limit mercury and other air toxics from power plants,” E2 Wire writes. The White House has threatened a veto. Last night, the House Rules Committee set the rules for debate on the TRAIN Act (HR 2401), a “bill that mandates interagency economic analyses of EPA rules, and delays two rules on power plant emissions.” The White House has threatened a veto.


Paying for a huge study to report the effects of muecury, etc. is a huge waste of public money. WE MUST CUT UNNECESSARY COSTS AND WASTE - not continue the old wasteful ways of spending and increasing the deficit - especially when Denham stated on the House floor that he had a pecuniary, unethical interest which is related to his political campaign.