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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
4 edits | My opinion? Is Sen. Turbin has a lot more to worry about in Washington than broadband.
How about the War?
How about excessive spending?
Excessive taxes?
So-So Security?
Iran?
Illegal immigration?
Jobs?
Energy?
Terrorism?
Education?
Inflation?
Housing market?
Crime?
Healthcare?
Tort reform?
The Sen. has far more important issues to deal with.
It's no wonder that Congress' approval ratings are at a record low.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
 ·Comcast
| Re: My opinion? said by ColorBASIC  :Is Sen. Turbin has a lot more to worry about in Washington than broadband. How about the War? How about excessive spending? Excessive taxes? So-So Security? Iran? Illegal immigration? Jobs? Energy? Terrorism? Inflation? Housing market? Crime? Healthcare? Tort reform? I think the Sen. has enough to do without worrying about broadband. It's no wonder that Congress' approval ratings are at a record low. We've been discussing the items you listed for over a decade now, and I predict we'll be discussing them for the next decade to come. Let's focus on something that is possible, like a national broadband plan.
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YourIP.US - It's Your IP .. and more!
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
2 edits | Re: My opinion? A national broadband plan is impossible.
They can't even put together an energy plan which is infinitely more important.
They can't get any plan together other than raising their salaries and kissing the ass of Mexico and China. That they can get done.
Any effort that Congress is going to waste should be on something important and in the list of stuff to do...worrying about broadband is at the very bottom.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire | |
| | | Joseph327
join:2006-02-03
Jacksonville, FL
| Re: My opinion? said by ColorBASIC :A national broadband plan is impossible. They can't even put together an energy plan which is infiniately more important. They can't get any plan together other than raising their salaries and kissing the ass of Mexico and China. That they can get done. Any effort that Congress is going to waste should be on something important and in the list of stuff to do...worrying about broadband is at the very bottom. Exactly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |
| | PAB
join:2007-07-27
Woodridge, IL | Jobs, housing, healthcare. All delivered via broadband. New legislation is important for a free and open internet. | |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
| Re: My opinion? We already know everything we need to know regarding fixing every problem on that list.
Problem is what you say...they're too busy engaging in a pissing contest or taking money from people who don't want these problems solved.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | If we just focused on purging corruption, cronyism, and influence peddling I'd bet half of your list of problems would begin to fix themselves.... | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: My opinion? said by Karl Bode :If we just focused on purging corruption, cronyism, and influence peddling I'd bet half of your list of problems would begin to fix themselves.... That's like trying to get the oxygen out air and still trying to breathe. Government will never be free of corruption, cronyism (which isn't bad by itself) or influence peddling. | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Re: My opinion? Obviously we're talking a matter of degree....were it true we couldn't at least improve things on this front, we might as well start the armed revolution now, and skip the next 100 years of slow slide..... | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: My opinion? said by Karl Bode :Obviously we're talking a matter of degree.... Well... the only problem with cronyism is that there is a tendency to put people into jobs for which they are not qualified, but if any president (or governor or mayor, etc.) doesn't hire people who are political allies for these jobs, then how would said elected official get his/her agenda implemented?
To put it more simply, here's a quote from "Big" Frank Rizzo, one of the last great mayors of Philadelphia, regarding cronyism:
"Who the hell you want me to give 'em to...my enemies?"
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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Paladin
Sage of the light
join:2001-08-17
Chester, IL
·New Wave Communica..
| Re: My opinion? Simple. Appoint the best people possible and you'll create your allies as you go along. There are plenty of qualified people on both sides of the aisle.
Look at what happens when you appoint people on cronyism though. My home state of Illinois is a prime example of that.
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First rule of fiber optics: you do not talk about fiber optics! | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: My opinion? said by Paladin :There are plenty of qualified people on both sides of the aisle. It doesn't work that way. When Bush became president he made the mistake of retaining many people who had been appointed by Clinton. We now have one of the most dysfunctional federal governments in modern history as a result.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
| Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| People (especially those with large amount of staffers) can do more than one (or several) thing(s) at a time.
Congress's approval ratings are at record lows because they were largely elected to stop a war, that they have no power to stop (short of a double impeachment, that would be completed just before the two clowns leave office anyway). Also the majority parties have a smaller margin than ever, so anything remotely partisan (like reversing anything done in the last decade) will be deadlocked.
War? - Executive power
Spending? - Deadlocked
Taxes? - Lowest they've been during war time EVER. so umm.
Security? - Deadlocked
Iran? - Executive power
Immigration? - Deadlocked
Jobs? - 6% used to be considered min unemployment, we're at 4.5%
Energy? - Deadlocked
Terrorism? - See war and security
Education? - Well, they're going to make it more expensive to get a loan through the FFELP program soon.
Inflation? - Except for Food & Energy, at all time lows.
Housing? - Actually things have now been tightened down pretty well thanks to congressional hearing with the federal agencies that had the regulatory power already. That's not going to save all the people that didn't read what they were getting, lied about their income, or where duped by a mortgage broker (who aren't regulated, on a state by state basis); nor should it. Otherwise they'll be rewarding excessive risk taking.
Crime? - National average are still pretty darn low.
Healthcare? - No good solution, yet.
Tort Reform? - Yikes.. | |
| | apollo80
join:2002-01-31
Richmond, VA
| Re: My opinion? said by Ahrenl :People (especially those with large amount of staffers) can do more than one (or several) thing(s) at a time. Congress's approval ratings are at record lows because they were largely elected to stop a war, that they have no power to stop (short of a double impeachment, that would be completed just before the two clowns leave office anyway). Also the majority parties have a smaller margin than ever, so anything remotely partisan (like reversing anything done in the last decade) will be deadlocked. War? - Executive power Spending? - Deadlocked Taxes? - Lowest they've been during war time EVER. so umm. Security? - Deadlocked Iran? - Executive power Immigration? - Deadlocked Jobs? - 6% used to be considered min unemployment, we're at 4.5% Energy? - Deadlocked Terrorism? - See war and security Education? - Well, they're going to make it more expensive to get a loan through the FFELP program soon. Inflation? - Except for Food & Energy, at all time lows. Housing? - Actually things have now been tightened down pretty well thanks to congressional hearing with the federal agencies that had the regulatory power already. That's not going to save all the people that didn't read what they were getting, lied about their income, or where duped by a mortgage broker (who aren't regulated, on a state by state basis); nor should it. Otherwise they'll be rewarding excessive risk taking. Crime? - National average are still pretty darn low. Healthcare? - No good solution, yet. Tort Reform? - Yikes.. To be more specific, the reason immigration is deadlocked is because the general public raised holy you know what over the immigration bill once it was obvious what was in it. All the Democrats need to do to pass that bill is vote as a party in the House and Senate and it passes (Bush said he would sign bill). But the Democrats can't even do that, because they were threatened to be voted out of office (so were Republicans who wanted to vote for it).
This is the first time I can remember ever seeing the public uproar in such masses that senators and congressman/woman backed down, knowing there would be you know what to pay election time. | |
| | | Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: My opinion? IT seems to me it was raised by the vocal minority, as usual.
The only thing I heard was some politico speak about amnesty, which refuses to come to grips with the fact that there's no possible way to deport 12,000,000 people, especially when you don't even know where they are. If you can't deport them, you can either criminalize them, or legalize them, those are your only two choices. I believe there are ~2,000,000 institutional criminals in the U.S. as of the last census, so that would be increasing that number by 6 TIMES. Considering we can't even issue a passport to a regular citizen within a 3 month window, I think they're here to stay.
The best solution I've heard is to create something like the French Foreign Legion, where you can serve in the army for X number of years (with other immigrants) to gain your citizenship. We have 160,000 troops in Iraq. Imagine if we could send a couple million Legionaries over.. Two problems solved. They'd come back hero's and citizens, with a citizenship they'd have earned. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: My opinion? said by Ahrenl :The only thing I heard was some politico speak about amnesty, which refuses to come to grips with the fact that there's no possible way to deport 12,000,000 people, especially when you don't even know where they are. LOL funny. If this was any other criminal problem, say rampant murder or child abuse, politicians would be having a group orgy to figure out how to solve it. The pols who throw out the "we can't deport them all" tripe are simply saying they are for amnesty without using so many words.
12 million people cannot be deported overnight, but they can be still be deported.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
| Re: My opinion? It's easy to deport them. You simply put in prison any employer who hires them, any gov't worker who helps them, any officer of a corporation extending them credit and any landlord who rents to them. All non-emergency aid to an illegal should be a felony.
They'll go home tomorrow when they have no job, no free money, and no place to live.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: My opinion? AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! | |
| | | | | | Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA | Wouldn't it just be easier to throw them in jail? Now you've taken 12m and multiplied it by everyone who deals with them. So that's 60m new prisoners. Maybe Mexico will let us build prisons there. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by Ahrenl :Congress's approval ratings are at record lows because they were largely elected to stop a war, that they have no power to stop (short of a double impeachment, that would be completed just before the two clowns leave office anyway). The Democrat party only won Congress because many idiot "conservatives" decided to stay home during the last election. On the other hand, Democrats always come out to vote in droves because they need all the money the government provides to them.
Congress could stop the war tomorrow if it wanted to. All it needs to do is defund the war. While this might be hard in the Senate, it would be trivially easy to do in the House. If Congress is supposed to end the war, why hasn't the House at least cut off funding for it?
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: My opinion? said by KoolMoe :You know very well why - because the Republicans fire-up their excellent PR machine ... Are you serious? We have one of the best economies ever and actual progress is being made in Iraq, yet we keep hearing we are practically in a depression and Americans are being killed on the streets of Baghdad by the millions.
said by KoolMoe :So, yeah, it's ultimately the Democrats lack of cohones for bowing under such political pressure ... Sure it is. HRH Pelosi keeps reminding us that Congress represents the "will of the people." Surely if so many people want the war de-funded, Congress would have been able to do it, with a veto-proof majority no less.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD
clubs:
·Verizon FIOS
 ·Speakeasy
| Re: My opinion? "Best economies ever" completely depends on how you look at it, as you know. Sure, some things look pretty good - record stock market highs, less-than-expected inflation (in some sectors) - on the surface. But you KNOW that the debt we're incurring is not anything close to a 'best economy ever'. And maybe you're making great money, but I know quite a few struggling folks (and not because they buy Big TVs).
As far as Iraq, I know it's pointless to be realistic with a cheerleader, but it's almost impossible NOT to show some sort of progress in Iraq considering the depths to which our progress has sunk.
Heck, I got an 'D' in high school physics my first semester. But when I got a 'D+' the next semester, I was making actual progress!
I'm sure there are positive things happening in Iraq but I think it's pretty evident and plain, despite blind hope, that our efforts there have been horribly managed and are much closer to 'failure' than 'success'.
Republicans, before their majority was tossed-out (why?), said Americans wanted Social Security reform...but they couldn't get it done. Why not?
Democrats do not have a veto-proof majority, just as the Republicans did not...and again, you know this.
I'm not quite sure why people think there is still any sort of majority support for this administration and it's handling of Iraq. How badly do things have to get before their pure incompetence is understood? *Regardless* of whether it was right or wrong to 'liberate' in the first place, this administration has to be the worst bunch of managers ever.
I agree, Congress should be able to 'de-fund' the war. The President should face reality and work with them before it even comes to that. But politics again trumps actual reason and support of our country and its people.
Rather shameful...just like the posturing and postings in this forums, like yours, that mislead and misconstrue the true issues.
KM
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Don't Lie - Be Kind - Realize your Potential | |
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Chivalry
Premium
join:2005-02-10
Chula Vista, CA
| Re: My opinion? Well said, KM. I have to admit that I've never been so ashamed of my government in my entire life.
Eventually, things will look up. We'll be able to put food on our families, human beings and fish kind will be able to coexist peacefully, and we'll finally solve the nation's energy problems by enacting an energy bill that encourages consumption. | |
| satellite68
join:2007-04-11
Louisville, KY
| How about the War?-endless debates, posturing, and gridlock not enough for you?
How about excessive spending?-so long as their constituents keep getting pork projects, no one will care enough about excessive spending.
Excessive taxes?-huh? ask Canadians or Swedes about excessive taxes.
So-So Security?-I agree with you on this one; the governments' primary mission is to protect our border, which is something they have failed miserably at.
Iran?-at least we're talking to them now. Imagine the Cold War without the behind the scenes diplomacy.
Illegal immigration?-see above on "so so security"
Jobs?-this is a sticky widget; there appears to be lots of work for those who want it-but little long term security, and benefits continue to be a nationwide issue.
Energy?-so long as big Oil is "big Oil", our energy policy will be pretty much the same.
Terrorism?-really, where are the parties responsible for 9-11?
Education?-don't believe the hype, this isn't as bad as the media would portray it. it's bad, but it can be fixed. the choices to do so aren't easy, or cheap-but it can be fixed.
Inflation?-I'm with you on this one. Everyone pretends it doesn't exist, but it surely does.
Housing market?-Perhaps this "market correction" was long overdue.
Crime?-More cops, please.
Healthcare?-Unless "Big Medicine" and "Big Insurance" are removed from the cost structure of this equation, this will continue to be an issue.
Tort reform?-how about "law reform" on pretty much all levels. The whole system appears corrupt, inept, and out of touch with reality. | |
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TScheisskopf
World News Trust
join:2005-02-13
Belvidere, NJ | I agree. How dare he, or anyone, even think of trying to make anything one bit better. | |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
1 edit | Re: My opinion? said by TScheisskopf :I agree. How dare he, or anyone, even think of trying to make anything one bit better. Problem is...all they do is talk.
Congress never DOES anything.
And if they do, there are FAR more important things to do FIRST before low latency broadband.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire | |
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TScheisskopf
World News Trust
join:2005-02-13
Belvidere, NJ
 ·Sprint Broadband D..
| Re: My opinion? Congress spends time on many issues. Frankly, I think that congrss turning its attention to the telecom industry is something that is long overdue. I hope we see more of it.
They are already working on the other subjects, by an large. If it's going too slow for you, well, in the government that is called "deliberation" and in business, "due diligence".
And then, of course, there is "obstruction"... | |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
2 edits | Re: My opinion? The problem is that Congress was more worried about Howard Stern and Terry Schiavo and is now more worried about giving rights to illegals and engaging in pissing contests than it is about energy, healthcare and the trade deficit.
With so many problems in gov't, the economy and in the world, low latency broadband (since SRS is available to nearly 100% of Americans) is not something Congress should be concerned with.
And the problem is Congress folks spend time holding photo op press conferences on many issues while actually doing NOTHING to solve them and Sen. Turbin is one of those who does this sorta nonsense often.
In the surveys of what is of immediate importance to Americans I never see broadband on this list. What I see is immigration, the ecomony, healthcare.
Congress should spend 100% of its efforts there until they are solved. THEN worry about trivial nonsense like low latency broadband.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by ColorBASIC :Congress never DOES anything. The country is by far better off when Congress does nothing. I'll applaud the Democrat party if they accomplish 0 during this session of Congress.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | Re: My opinion? That's true. It was great during the last gov't shut down. Less traffic. | |
| jc100
join:2002-04-10
| Try A Lame Duck President and A republican Congress that have had 5 years of absolute power to run this country but have made a mess of it. Not to mention, these same Republicans have not had a Plan in Iraq or an exit Strategy. When the Democrats try to make a move, Bush shoots it down, full well and knowing, his cronies won't let the bills advance. Even if they did, he would veto them and there isn't a 2/3rds majority to overrule them.... So ya, Congress is hated because Bush won't let anything happen. Might as well focus on issues that can be solved versus one's that Bush won't let go anywhere. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by ColorBASIC :Is Sen. Turbin has a lot more to worry about in Washington than broadband. Don't tell him that, he might compare you to the Nazis, Stalin and Pol Pot.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
| Axekick
join:2005-05-01
Saint Louis, MO
·Charter Pipeline
| said by ColorBASIC :Is Sen. Turbin has a lot more to worry about in Washington than broadband. How about the War? How about excessive spending? Excessive taxes? So-So Security? Iran? Illegal immigration? Jobs? Energy? Terrorism? Education? Inflation? Housing market? Crime? Healthcare? Tort reform? The Sen. has far more important issues to deal with. It's no wonder that Congress' approval ratings are at a record low. Along with abortion those are issues they usually discuss when they are in the 'kill time' mode. I prefer they discuss something realistic rather than a dog and pony show of which they all know nothing productive will get accomplished. | |
| surrrfur
join:2004-02-28
Lewisberry, PA | I'll second that. Congress needs to start taking care of business and especially those items mentioned, and then worry about broadband. | |
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Apathy sucks.