Congress has been busy.....

[Nik]

Point is ... everyone is distracted ... this week it's David Letterman scandal ... last week it was what's his name ... week before was some kidney failure joke if I remember correctly. What else have they passed while all attention has been on lame issues. Let's see, what have the most talked about issues been?

What's for dinner at the White House.

Dinner and a movie with the Obamas.

Kidney failure joke.

Birth certificate hiding.

"Slut" comment by some less than popular talk show host.

.... yeah ... really important topics, in the mean time the government finds more ways to waste money or give it to their own. They find more ways to restrict our freedoms. More ways to tax the successful. More ways to interfere in our lives .... how are they doing this? By making sure no ones eyes are on them.

Yeah...they are restricting our freedoms by giving federal employees paid maternity leave

And I'm sure its all a big conspiracy. Obama hid his birth certificate far before he was in office, cause he just knew he would need a distraction years from then! And of course Letterman said slut, he was ordered to by the government!!!!

You need a tin foil hat too. Keep the government from listening to your thoughts!

Don't blame other people if you watch shitty television and don't know how to find quality news outlets. They are out there, but if you don't dig, its your own damn fault.

 

[Nik]

Point is ... everyone is distracted ... this week it's David Letterman scandal ... last week it was what's his name ... week before was some kidney failure joke if I remember correctly. What else have they passed while all attention has been on lame issues. Let's see, what have the most talked about issues been?

What's for dinner at the White House.

Dinner and a movie with the Obamas.

Kidney failure joke.

Birth certificate hiding.

"Slut" comment by some less than popular talk show host.

.... yeah ... really important topics, in the mean time the government finds more ways to waste money or give it to their own. They find more ways to restrict our freedoms. More ways to tax the successful. More ways to interfere in our lives .... how are they doing this? By making sure no ones eyes are on them.

No shit. Exactly like this one.

H.R. 1388 was passed, behind our backs. You may want to read about it, if you were too busy. It wasn't mentioned on the news... just went by on the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN screen.

Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
H.R.1388. Title: A bill entitled "The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an Act to reauthorize and reform the national service laws."


March 26, 2009
Congress.org - Key Votes - Vote Passed (79-19, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this national service bill which would increase the number of AmeriCorps volunteers from 75,000 to 250,000 and designate September 11 as a national day of service and remembrance.



Which, of course, unless you subscribe to Legislative updates, or you watch CSPAN, it's unlikely you'll know about it until months later. Did I hear Obama say something about "transparency"? <check>

Oh, and just to prove the point

May 2009 Cable Rankings: TNT #1 In Primetime, Fox News Top 5 In Primetime and Total Day
How shocking (NOT!) that C-SPAN isn't mentioned up there. Requires thinking ya know....

Oh wait.... From the peanut gallery....

First, they are 'paid for by the cable companies' (conflict of interest??)

Second, they aren't 'commercial'. You can't buy time on it, why waste your money on tracking who is watching it?

Now who would possibly want to track the THINKERS instead of the MINDLESS ROBOTS?

Wow, television news is shitty? How incredibly surprising. I read about the bill in a number of outlets both newspapers and bloggers.

 

[alan1]

Yes it does, and this isn't nepotism.

Good point, I'm sure nobody in congress has family members working in the federal government.

Are you really this fucking retarded? You think they gave benefits to 2.7 million people just to give family members some paid maternity leave? There are so many easier ways of committing nepotism than that.

Evidently I am retarded, because now my tax dollars are paying for somebody to take a leave of absence simply because they chose to get pregnant and have a child.
So, now I get to pay for somebody else to have an abortion, or to have a child. Seems the pro-choice crowd didn't leave me any any choice in the matter.

 

[DamnYankee]

Very good.... And they would be the same federal employees who are, somehow, different from us peon municipal [or state] employees, and all you non-government employees....

Umm, theres a difference between bestowing rights upon people and mandating that they be bestowed. Congress has some responsibility for federal employees, in fact a greater responsibility than they do for non-federal employees. And I'm sure many in Congress would really prefer to include all individuals in this. Too bad the Republicans would block that in a heartbeat...so you can blame them for you not getting this privilege as well.

Hmmm..... Lemme think now..... Who was it that passed the FLMA? For ALL employees? Oh yeah..... That would be CONGRESS!

I said more responsibility, not no responsibility. There is a long history of Congress making needed reforms in the federal government before making the mandatory for everyone. Hell, the military was de-segregated before the south. Although that wasn't congress.

Actually, what you said was "Congress has some responsibility for federal employees, in fact a greater responsibility than they do for non-federal employees."

Interesting that you believe that they have a greater responsibility to federal employees than anyone else, or at least you did until called on it.

 

[Nik]

Good point, I'm sure nobody in congress has family members working in the federal government.

Are you really this fucking retarded? You think they gave benefits to 2.7 million people just to give family members some paid maternity leave? There are so many easier ways of committing nepotism than that.

Evidently I am retarded, because now my tax dollars are paying for somebody to take a leave of absence simply because they chose to get pregnant and have a child.
So, now I get to pay for somebody else to have an abortion, or to have a child. Seems the pro-choice crowd didn't leave me any any choice in the matter.

And? Do you think the government should be encouraging families and family values, or not?

 

[Nik]

Hmmm..... Lemme think now..... Who was it that passed the FLMA? For ALL employees? Oh yeah..... That would be CONGRESS!

I said more responsibility, not no responsibility. There is a long history of Congress making needed reforms in the federal government before making the mandatory for everyone. Hell, the military was de-segregated before the south. Although that wasn't congress.

Actually, what you said was "Congress has some responsibility for federal employees, in fact a greater responsibility than they do for non-federal employees."

Interesting that you believe that they have a greater responsibility to federal employees than anyone else, or at least you did until called on it.

Yes, that is what I said. Want to take a shot at pointing out any inconsistencies in my statements? Good luck if you try.

 

[DamnYankee]

Point is ... everyone is distracted ... this week it's David Letterman scandal ... last week it was what's his name ... week before was some kidney failure joke if I remember correctly. What else have they passed while all attention has been on lame issues. Let's see, what have the most talked about issues been?

What's for dinner at the White House.

Dinner and a movie with the Obamas.

Kidney failure joke.

Birth certificate hiding.

"Slut" comment by some less than popular talk show host.

.... yeah ... really important topics, in the mean time the government finds more ways to waste money or give it to their own. They find more ways to restrict our freedoms. More ways to tax the successful. More ways to interfere in our lives .... how are they doing this? By making sure no ones eyes are on them.

No shit. Exactly like this one.

H.R. 1388 was passed, behind our backs. You may want to read about it, if you were too busy. It wasn't mentioned on the news... just went by on the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN screen.

Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
H.R.1388. Title: A bill entitled "The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an Act to reauthorize and reform the national service laws."


March 26, 2009
Congress.org - Key Votes - Vote Passed (79-19, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this national service bill which would increase the number of AmeriCorps volunteers from 75,000 to 250,000 and designate September 11 as a national day of service and remembrance.



Which, of course, unless you subscribe to Legislative updates, or you watch CSPAN, it's unlikely you'll know about it until months later. Did I hear Obama say something about "transparency"? <check>

Oh, and just to prove the point

May 2009 Cable Rankings: TNT #1 In Primetime, Fox News Top 5 In Primetime and Total Day
How shocking (NOT!) that C-SPAN isn't mentioned up there. Requires thinking ya know....

Oh wait.... From the peanut gallery....

First, they are 'paid for by the cable companies' (conflict of interest??)

Second, they aren't 'commercial'. You can't buy time on it, why waste your money on tracking who is watching it?

Now who would possibly want to track the THINKERS instead of the MINDLESS ROBOTS?

Wow, television news is shitty? How incredibly surprising. I read about the bill in a number of outlets both newspapers and bloggers.

Hmmm.... Ever hear of "If the shoe fits...." ?? No need to try and make it fit, Cinderella....

 

[DamnYankee]

Good point, I'm sure nobody in congress has family members working in the federal government.

Are you really this fucking retarded? You think they gave benefits to 2.7 million people just to give family members some paid maternity leave? There are so many easier ways of committing nepotism than that.

Evidently I am retarded, because now my tax dollars are paying for somebody to take a leave of absence simply because they chose to get pregnant and have a child.
So, now I get to pay for somebody else to have an abortion, or to have a child. Seems the pro-choice crowd didn't leave me any any choice in the matter.

That isn't an accurate description of the Act. Could we not make this about pro-life/pro-choice because some of you believe that the FMLA is only for the benefit of pregnant women?

 

[alan1]

Are you really this fucking retarded? You think they gave benefits to 2.7 million people just to give family members some paid maternity leave? There are so many easier ways of committing nepotism than that.

Evidently I am retarded, because now my tax dollars are paying for somebody to take a leave of absence simply because they chose to get pregnant and have a child.
So, now I get to pay for somebody else to have an abortion, or to have a child. Seems the pro-choice crowd didn't leave me any any choice in the matter.

And? Do you think the government should be encouraging families and family values, or not?

The government has no business getting involved in personal choices, be that abortion or having a child.
Try and keep up.

 

[Nik]

Evidently I am retarded, because now my tax dollars are paying for somebody to take a leave of absence simply because they chose to get pregnant and have a child.
So, now I get to pay for somebody else to have an abortion, or to have a child. Seems the pro-choice crowd didn't leave me any any choice in the matter.

And? Do you think the government should be encouraging families and family values, or not?

The government has no business getting involved in personal choices, be that abortion or having a child.
Try and keep up.

Its not about the government encouraging you to have a child, genius, its about the government not creating hardship on individuals who do choose to have children.

 

[alan1]

Are you really this fucking retarded? You think they gave benefits to 2.7 million people just to give family members some paid maternity leave? There are so many easier ways of committing nepotism than that.

Evidently I am retarded, because now my tax dollars are paying for somebody to take a leave of absence simply because they chose to get pregnant and have a child.
So, now I get to pay for somebody else to have an abortion, or to have a child. Seems the pro-choice crowd didn't leave me any any choice in the matter.

That isn't an accurate description of the Act. Could we not make this about pro-life/pro-choice because some of you believe that the FMLA is only for the benefit of pregnant women?

I'm not talking about FMLA, I'm talking about paid leave. Paid from my tax dollars, that's completely different.

 

[alan1]

And? Do you think the government should be encouraging families and family values, or not?

The government has no business getting involved in personal choices, be that abortion or having a child.
Try and keep up.

Its not about the government encouraging you to have a child, genius, its about the government not creating hardship on individuals who do choose to have children.

So now having children is a hardship?
Do you just make up this bullshit as you go along?

 

[DamnYankee]

Very good.... And they would be the same federal employees who are, somehow, different from us peon municipal [or state] employees, and all you non-government employees....

Umm, theres a difference between bestowing rights upon people and mandating that they be bestowed. Congress has some responsibility for federal employees, in fact a greater responsibility than they do for non-federal employees. And I'm sure many in Congress would really prefer to include all individuals in this. Too bad the Republicans would block that in a heartbeat...so you can blame them for you not getting this privilege as well.

Hmmm..... Lemme think now..... Who was it that passed the FLMA? For ALL employees? Oh yeah..... That would be CONGRESS!

I said more responsibility, not no responsibility. There is a long history of Congress making needed reforms in the federal government before making the mandatory for everyone. Hell, the military was de-segregated before the south. Although that wasn't congress.

Actually, what you said was "Congress has some responsibility for federal employees, in fact a greater responsibility than they do for non-federal employees."

Interesting that you believe that they have a greater responsibility to federal employees than anyone else, or at least you did until called on it.

Yes, that is what I said. Want to take a shot at pointing out any inconsistencies in my statements? Good luck if you try.

Well luck really has little to do with it.

First you start with the difference between "bestowing" and "mandating" as if there's a difference when Congress must mandate what is bestowed.

Second, you go on to say that Congress has more responsibility for federal employees than any other employees, and then go on to say that they would prefer to mandate that it be bestowed upon those they have less responsibility for if only SOME of them (the Republicans of course) wouldn't be so ornery about it!

When you were reminded that it was Congress (ALL of them) that mandated that the DADDY package (FMLA) be bestowed upon ALL of us, you then reverted back to the greater responsibility that they have to mandate that the BABY package be bestowed upon themselves (the feds).

And damned if you didn't declare that there's a precedent for it!http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/fmlaada.html

 

[Nik]

The government has no business getting involved in personal choices, be that abortion or having a child.
Try and keep up.

Its not about the government encouraging you to have a child, genius, its about the government not creating hardship on individuals who do choose to have children.

So now having children is a hardship?
Do you just make up this bullshit as you go along?

If you need to continue working and get no time off? Yes. It is.

 

[Nik]

Very good.... And they would be the same federal employees who are, somehow, different from us peon municipal [or state] employees, and all you non-government employees....

Umm, theres a difference between bestowing rights upon people and mandating that they be bestowed. Congress has some responsibility for federal employees, in fact a greater responsibility than they do for non-federal employees. And I'm sure many in Congress would really prefer to include all individuals in this. Too bad the Republicans would block that in a heartbeat...so you can blame them for you not getting this privilege as well.

Actually, what you said was "Congress has some responsibility for federal employees, in fact a greater responsibility than they do for non-federal employees."

Interesting that you believe that they have a greater responsibility to federal employees than anyone else, or at least you did until called on it.

Yes, that is what I said. Want to take a shot at pointing out any inconsistencies in my statements? Good luck if you try.

Well luck really has little to do with it.

First you start with the difference between "bestowing" and "mandating" as if there's a difference when Congress must mandate what is bestowed.

There is a difference. Its the difference between giving someone rights yourself and forcing someone else to provide someone with rights.

Second, you go on to say that Congress has more responsibility for federal employees than any other employees, and then go on to say that they would prefer to mandate that it be bestowed upon those they have less responsibility for if only SOME of them (the Republicans of course) wouldn't be so ornery about it!

Yes, thats correct.

When you were reminded that it was Congress (ALL of them) that mandated that the DADDY package (FMLA) be bestowed upon ALL of us, you then reverted back to the greater responsibility that they have to mandate that the BABY package be bestowed upon themselves (the feds).

And damned if you didn't declare that there's a precedent for it!

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/fmlaada.html

Oy. Ok. Congress has a greater responsibility to federal employees than to individuals in general, since Congress, in a sense, directly employs them. Now. That they have a greater responsibility to one group does not mean they have NO responsibility to the whole.

Seems you need a bit more luck. Care to try again?

 

[alan1]

Its not about the government encouraging you to have a child, genius, its about the government not creating hardship on individuals who do choose to have children.

So now having children is a hardship?
Do you just make up this bullshit as you go along?

If you need to continue working and get no time off? Yes. It is.

But FMLA gives people time off.
If one decides to have kids, that's not a hardship, that's a choice. It's not my responsibility to pay for it with my taxes, it wasn't my choice for you (not you personally, but the generic federal employee) to have a child.

 

[Nik]

So now having children is a hardship?
Do you just make up this bullshit as you go along?

If you need to continue working and get no time off? Yes. It is.

But FMLA gives people time off.
If one decides to have kids, that's not a hardship, that's a choice. It's not my responsibility to pay for it with my taxes, it wasn't my choice for you (not you personally, but the generic federal employee) to have a child.

Not everyone can afford to just take time off without getting paid. And oy...give me a fucking break. Congress gets to decide what it wants to spend taxes on, not you. Fine, you don't give a shit about promoting family values, about providing a competitive federal work environment, so maybe they can hire some quality people, nor do you care that kids actually have their parents around for part of their lives. But some people do.

 

[alan1]

If you need to continue working and get no time off? Yes. It is.

But FMLA gives people time off.
If one decides to have kids, that's not a hardship, that's a choice. It's not my responsibility to pay for it with my taxes, it wasn't my choice for you (not you personally, but the generic federal employee) to have a child.

Not everyone can afford to just take time off without getting paid. And oy...give me a fucking break. Congress gets to decide what it wants to spend taxes on, not you. Fine, you don't give a shit about promoting family values, about providing a competitive federal work environment, so maybe they can hire some quality people, nor do you care that kids actually have their parents around for part of their lives. But some people do.

How much more can you misconstrue what I said?
Does it make you feel better to continue to fling false accusations about me?
Congress continues to violate the constitution with it's unauthorized spending, and people like you continue to just accept it.

 

[Nik]

But FMLA gives people time off.
If one decides to have kids, that's not a hardship, that's a choice. It's not my responsibility to pay for it with my taxes, it wasn't my choice for you (not you personally, but the generic federal employee) to have a child.

Not everyone can afford to just take time off without getting paid. And oy...give me a fucking break. Congress gets to decide what it wants to spend taxes on, not you. Fine, you don't give a shit about promoting family values, about providing a competitive federal work environment, so maybe they can hire some quality people, nor do you care that kids actually have their parents around for part of their lives. But some people do.

How much more can you misconstrue what I said?
Does it make you feel better to continue to fling false accusations about me?
Congress continues to violate the constitution with it's unauthorized spending, and people like you continue to just accept it.

If they are false, than why are you so against promoting families?

And do tell how this is violating the Constitution. This should be rich

 

[alan1]

Not everyone can afford to just take time off without getting paid. And oy...give me a fucking break. Congress gets to decide what it wants to spend taxes on, not you. Fine, you don't give a shit about promoting family values, about providing a competitive federal work environment, so maybe they can hire some quality people, nor do you care that kids actually have their parents around for part of their lives. But some people do.

How much more can you misconstrue what I said?
Does it make you feel better to continue to fling false accusations about me?
Congress continues to violate the constitution with it's unauthorized spending, and people like you continue to just accept it.

If they are false, than why are you so against promoting families?

And do tell how this is violating the Constitution. This should be rich

I never said I was against promoting family. I said the government had no business getting involved in it. Go back and read what I posted.

Nowhere in the constitution does it say that the government can take money from one person and give it to another, especially if it is based upon the choices of the person receiving the money. I'm sorry the constitution is so difficult for you to understand.