I've lived in Mtn Home since 1989, so that's...hold on...I'm thinking...WOW! Exactly 25 years! Boy, I think I can almost declare myself an Idahoan. But my family is British and I grew up in Louisiana around lots of other Brits so I still think I'm a little bit of a mutt. Those of you who have been around awhile may remember when I used to blog all the time. My opinions weren't very accepted and there was always an issue because I work for the county. That really wasn't fair because I NEVER blog at work! And I am still entitled to my opinions and thoughts about city and county issues, right? However, it stirred a lot of pots and those pots certainly can make a lot of noise! Since I'm a writer, I took what I wrote in my blog seriously so I spent a lot of time researching things which got exhausting to do when you're not even get a paycheck for it. So I stopped. That was a blessing to many! However, to this day, I still have people stop me and ask me why I wasn't blogging and t! hey missed it. I've missed it. Mainly because there are so many issues that come up and I have no voice except around my friends and I'm sure they are tired of it.

Snowball Politics Prevail

Posted Sunday, November 22, 2009, at 12:43 PM

WATCH OUT!

Political Bribery is running through the Hill like wildfire but is it really a new exposed sin or an old game played since the beginning of time? I think we know the answer to that. Before the fall of the "greatest" Republican government, the Roman Empire, the corruption and bribery were running full speed with nothing to stop it. Greed and a thirst for power destroyed the idea of a government for the people and by the people. History screams for people to pay attention, but like immature teenagers who think they are invincible, Congress runs on full-speed ahead. Corruption, bribes, scratching backs, strange bedfellows, defamation of character, blackmailing, lying and cheating are the status quo. History tells us that the it is the road to ruin. But once the snowball of dishonesty started falling down that slippery slope of political prowess, it has grown bigger and is rolling faster. You either have to get out of it's way and watch the destruction or jump right on in. One or two honest persons of honor could never stop it. Might as well just get what you can out of it for your state and ignore the ethics of it all. Right? Is that how it will have to be?

The healthcare reform was on the edge of the vote needed to get to a victory. Snowball politics prevail.

"Doing nothing is not an option," Landrieu said. Her support was garnered in part by a provision in the bill that would deliver higher Medicaid payments to Louisiana health-care providers." Washington Post. And Bloomberg reported that Landrieu "won the inclusion of an extra $100 million in federal aid for low-income people in her state."

So of the 2,000 some-odd pages of this healthcare bill, how much of it are inclusions to buy votes? How is this any different from bribing? Or to put the shoe on the senator's foot, how is this different from blackmailing? Mary Landrieu is a perfect example of this political blackmailing done every day on Capital Hill. She knew that the Dems needed her vote to complete the 60 votes needed. And so the courtship began. Mary had been working on her special pet project to get more Medicaid payments to her state. It was the project she needed to get her elected and to keep her on the Hill. Holding off her support for the healthcare bill and letting it be known what her price would be was brilliant. Suddenly, an inclusion to the bill to get her state between $300 to $100 million was produced and Mary's support was bought. Snowball>1 Integrity, honest ethics>0

Comments

View 12 comments

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

Change we can believe in Kim! Who cares how we pay for it or how long it takes to pay for it. George W. had his weapons of mass destruction and Obama had his promise of "change" (too bad it snowed so many). Now, we can spend the rest of our lives and 5 generations (or more) attempting to pay for "change" and "things to make our lives better." Anybody currently in DC representing the people should be voted out. Why do we celebrate people in Congress for 56 years? They are corrupt crooks. Pretty sad when criminals are celebrated. Then again, this is Government/politics. All is fair right?

-- Posted by OpinionMissy on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 12:49 PM
Actually Landrieu might not be getting more Medicaid money for her state. They are suppose to cut medicaid and medicare and if they cut medicaid the payment will most likely stay the same as it is now or become less

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 12:53 PM
Massively off subject: I just wanted to say hello to Bazookaman...... Miss your blog!!!! Its good to see you again...

-- Posted by Missylynn on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 9:44 PM
Don't worry Missylynn, Bazooka may not have his own blog but he faithfully writes as comments to other blogs. So you'll always know how he feels about a subject.

Bazooka: what program at 7pm. I missed it watching GI JOE.

OM: Change we can fail with, huh. The snowball is barreling through this country and I fear that it can't be stopped.

-- Posted by kimkovac on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 6:28 AM
Not to discredit anyone but I get the feeling that this is just a smalltown version of the Weekly World News or National Enquirer. Impartial logic seems to escape most. Politics is always a game. No matter how honest the participants are or claim to be. Facts and history alone do not act as the deciding factors in a decision. Opinions and feelings are involved and we all know how irrational those can be.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 9:15 AM
Yes Bazooka...these kids in college think they know it all and have the world by the...

As time goes by, history is rewritten and reworked to be more PC. People are not taught to think anymore. It is all pretty sad.

-- Posted by OpinionMissy on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 3:02 PM
I just dont buy into prophetic speeches and ranting, sensationalist types. Politics (national or just office games) is not based on facts. It is gut feelings and trying to win favor. I just scoff at those who fully believe the media word for word. For every story they break, I always factor in about 50% of it is exaggeration and filler meant to draw the crowd in. Life is not always that dramatic.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 3:02 PM
Oh Tim. Get back to us in about 30 years and see where you stand once you have "been there and done that." Life is normally about 50% MORE dramatic than you think it is unless you have those blinders on and live in denial.

Yes Kim, I agree with your statement 100%. People have gone along with things for so long that all you can do now is wait for the crash and listen for the screams. This is what happens when people sit back and allow life to happen. Now look what we have got?

-- Posted by OpinionMissy on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 3:21 PM
OK, one example of why i dont take politics all that seriously.

Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the USSR. The man wins the Nobel Prize. Americans and others around the world sing his praises for instituting glasnost and perestroika. Change, in simpler words. First fallacy, the man was not a humanitarian aimed at benefitting everyone in a selfless manner.

Next, Reagan and others give these very politicizied, canned speeches to Germany and others telling him to tear down the wall. This speech was simple hot air. The U.S. would have been asinine to even consider an all out war or threat. Not that we could not win but what would be the benefit. Pride is not enough to condone such an act of stupidity. Second fallacy, the Berlin Wall did not come down because of Reagan or anything related to it. There are plenty of impartial sources to back it up.

The end of USSR was due to being broke. They could pay the army nor anyone else. Gorbachev was simply preventing a larger, more destructive revolution. Outside threats had nothing to do with it. The garbage that we saw on TV was pure rhetoric. The substance of this whole scenario was that they were bankrupt and living a lie that the people were starting to discover.

I dont take politicians word for word. I know that they are salesmen that are simply more accepted. The media is not impartial either. They aim to make money and serve an agenda. Informing the public comes third. Truth is a hard thing to know. Everyone seems to be scared of it. In the end, it is usually not as interesting as that of the dramatic nonsense that comes forth on TV.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Tue, Nov 24, 2009, at 9:22 AM
there are some similarities. I brought it up to show that the media and politicians make certain events into things that they are not. If Gorbachev would have told the world that he made the changes because the USSR was broke, it would have been on the 8th page of the newspaper. No one wants to hear that. Now if he blows some smoke and tells everybody that he is feeling like Mother Teresa with a sex change then that gets some pub. He know how to spin it so that he could live in peace after his time at the top was over. The point is that cold hard, boring, truth is not fashionable. Being accountable and telling it like it is, no matter how bad or good it makes one look has gone by the wayside.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Tue, Nov 24, 2009, at 3:19 PM
Bazooka:

The majority of those guns turned in are worthless 22 or 25 that when purchased new cost less then 100 bucks. What is wrong with turning crappy guns into holiday cheer? It isn't mandatory and the pigs ain't smashing down doors to get them guns. Your turning something harmless into the end of society again, again, again, again. Your gone man,....

-- Posted by censored on Wed, Nov 25, 2009, at 8:37 AM
Here is a question. How do you crash a dinner party if you are allowed beyond several security check points and ALLOWED/invited in? Seems like a SS/security failure as opposed to a criminal act against the 2 people involved (who made the "illegal entry"). Sounds like a cover up for a crappy security force.

-- Posted by OpinionMissy on Fri, Nov 27, 2009, at 1:23 PM

Respond to this blog

Posting a comment requires free registration:

If you already have an account, follow this link to login
Otherwise, follow this link to register