Jobs Bill

[heironymouspasparagus]

That could be pretty much any politician.

By definition.

[Red Arrow]

Bias?  Against Inhofe?  Just reality.

I know how you feel.  I held Jim Jones in pretty much the same regard as you do Inhofe.  I wasn't too fond of Synar either.

I did vote for David Boren for Senate at least one time without regrets.

[Townsend]

Jobs bill for vets bogs down in senate


http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jobs-bill-vets-bogs-down-senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has blocked legislation that would have established a $1 billion jobs program putting veterans back to work tending to the country's federal lands and bolstering local police and fire departments.

Republicans say the spending violates limits that Congress agreed to last year. Democrats fell two votes shy of the 60-vote majority needed to waive the objection.

Supporters loosely modeled their proposal after the Civilian Conservation Corps used during the Great Depression to employ people planting trees, building parks and constructing dams

Democrats turned to the legislation shortly before they'll adjourn for the finals weeks of this year's election campaigns.

Republicans say the effort to help veterans is noble, but the bill is flawed.

[nathanm]

Amazing how we can't even get a band aid past the Republicans.

[Townsend]

Amazing how we can't even get a band aid past the Republicans.

Nervous it'll help the President in the election maybe.

[nathanm]

Nervous it'll help the President in the election maybe.

Must be. This would add .06% to the deficit, which would still be smaller than last fiscal year, presuming forecasts hold. And that's assuming the money paid to these veterans would evaporate into thin air.

[Conan71]

Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said the federal government already has six job-training programs for veterans and there is no way to know how well they are working.

...Democratic officials did not have an estimate for how many veterans would be hired as a result of the legislation. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said much would depend upon the number of applicants. She noted that more than 720,000 veterans are unemployed across the nation, including 220,000 veterans who have served since Sept. 11. She said putting veterans back to work was the cost of war.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jobs-bill-vets-bogs-down-senate

"We really don't know how many vets this would have put to work, if any.  We just want to be able to say: 'Lookie what these evil Republicans did to try and screw the vets over only $1 billion.'"

Coburn is right on one point, we have a lot of duplicity in our government which seems to go un-noticed.

[nathanm]

"We really don't know how many vets this would have put to work, if any.  We just want to be able to say: 'Lookie what these evil Republicans did to try and screw the vets over only $1 billion.'"

If it doesn't put anybody to work it doesn't cost anything. Other than what it costs to print some forms and put up a website, anyway. I don't have figures at hand, but I seem to remember reading a few months back that unemployment among veterans is much higher than average.

[Conan71]

If it doesn't put anybody to work it doesn't cost anything. Other than what it costs to print some forms and put up a website, anyway. I don't have figures at hand, but I seem to remember reading a few months back that unemployment among veterans is much higher than average.

And to put together a new bureau to administer this and to put together an oversight bureau... it's the incremental bureaucratic creep, it's never as simple as printing forms and putting up a new web site.

Unemployment is higher amongst women and blacks than vets, IIRC.  We've already got six programs for Vet employment according to Sen Coburn.  Why not focus on other groups if we have multiple programs in place to help the vets?

This bill was about nothing more than good campaign soundbites: "When Senator Blowhard had a chance to help our veterans, he turned his back on them!"

[erfalf]

To be clear, I am not parsing blame. But it is funny that when Republican's block some legislation it is just assumed that it is Republican's being obstructionist. The truth is it is a big freaking game of gotcha and both sides are playing for keeps.

[Conan71]

To be clear, I am not parsing blame. But it is funny that when Republican's block some legislation it is just assumed that it is Republican's being obstructionist. The truth is it is a big freaking game of gotcha and both sides are playing for keeps.

Legislating seems to be far less about advancing Americans than it seems to be about attaining and retaining power.  Personally, I'd like to put about 537 people in Washington DC on the unemployment line.

[nathanm]

And to put together a new bureau to administer this and to put together an oversight bureau... it's the incremental bureaucratic creep, it's never as simple as printing forms and putting up a new web site.

It is if you're not creating a new agency.

Unemployment is higher amongst women and blacks than vets, IIRC.  We've already got six programs for Vet employment according to Sen Coburn.  Why not focus on other groups if we have multiple programs in place to help the vets?

Because the Republicans are even more likely to block that legislation? You wanted it distilled, it was distilled.

This bill was about nothing more than good campaign soundbites: "When Senator Blowhard had a chance to help our veterans, he turned his back on them!"

The quality of the soundbite is no indication as to the quality of the idea or the quality of the legislation attempting to implement that idea. They are all separate things. Some monumentally stupid ideas make great soundbites, some great idea make stupid sounding soundbites. The only real correlation is that monumentally stupid ideas tend to make for stupid legislation. Sadly, you can't depend on the inverse being true.

[Conan71]

The quality of the soundbite is no indication as to the quality of the idea or the quality of the legislation attempting to implement that idea. They are all separate things. Some monumentally stupid ideas make great soundbites, some great idea make stupid sounding soundbites. The only real correlation is that monumentally stupid ideas tend to make for stupid legislation. Sadly, you can't depend on the inverse being true.

JFC, my head is spinning.  Do you talk like that at home? Poor SWMBO! 

[Gaspar]

I just read the bill.  It's a good bill, until you get to the last provision. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c112:1:./temp/~c112mOP1kg:e1015:

It repeals Subtitle J of title IX of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that provides funding for offshore ultradeepwater oil and gas research and production.  

Why?  Hell if I know!

Just another attempt to pound a nail in domestic energy production and cloak it in a bill with the word "Veterans" and "JOBS" in the title.

I'm so sick of this senate.  

[Townsend]

It repeals Subtitle J of title IX of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that provides funding for offshore ultradeepwater oil and gas research and production.  

Why?  Hell if I know!


I'm so sick of this senate.  

Probably because oil and gas companies can afford to pay for their own research and production.

You spelled "house" wrong.