The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Bornieo: Fully Loaded

Everyone mark your calendars...

I think I need to get some rest. I clicked onto the article. Read it and then thought to myself. Interesting. I should post a link to that over on LoT.

[Nephythys]

LMAO- goodness, I can just come here for comic relief.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

I think I need to get some rest. I clicked onto the article. Read it and then thought to myself. Interesting. I should post a link to that over on LoT.

At least you only thought it.........and that's all I am saying

[scaeagles]

Imagine, if you will, Janet Reno sitting before a Senate hearing after Elian Gonzales was forcefully removed from his home in Miami to be returned to Cuba.

Senator Rick Santorum says "How can you be involved in this decision? You don't have children."

The firestorm of criticism would be immense.

Perhaps I'm missing the huge uproar, but I haven't seen one regarding Barbara Boxer asking Condoleeza Rice how she can be involved with Iraq policy decisions when she has no children.

[scaeagles]

Imagine, if you will, a new sweeping corporate tax policy reform that exempts a company in the state of the Republican author of the bill because it would be harmful to that particular business. The firestorm of criticism would be immense.

Now flash to reality....the minimum wage increase (federal law applies to territories of the United States) exempts American Samoa. Why, you ask? Well, the tuna industry is immense in American Samoa. It would damage the industry irreparably because of having to drastically increase the wages of the workers on the tuna ships. Now, I find it interesting that Starkist Tuna is headquartered in the district of....Nancy Pelosi. Now of course, the Pelosi spokemen deny that any lobbying has taken place. Sure. Would that be believed if this were the oil industry in Texas? I surely doubt it.

I would love it (and it won't happen) if Bush held a press conference and said that he couldn't in good conscience sign the bill until it applies to all, including the poor hard working folks in American Samoa, and was shocked that Pelosi would cave to special corporate interests.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Imagine, if you will, posting links to the stories you are going on about.


ETA: Here is what Boxer actually said:

BOXER: Madame Secretary, please, I know you feel terrible about it, that's not the point. I was making the case as to who pays the price for your decisions. Now the issue is: Who pays the price? Who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price; my kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families.

It sounds to me like the point she was making was that these decisions are affecting military families quite a bit more than they are affecting either Rice or Boxer personally, especially since Boxer included herself in the statement. I'm not seeing the need for outrage.

However, as good ol' lovable Rush put it; "Boxer tried to lynch Rice". Nope, nothing offensive about that at all.

[scaeagles]

Now, I intentionally did not post links to see if something like that would be posted. They are out there, but are not major news stories.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Now, I intentionally did not post links to see if something like that would be posted. They are out there, but are not major news stories.

Well, I'm only commenting on the first story, which I believe I learned of from either the Washington Post or CNN, although I wasn't able to find a link to them today. Since I usually don't read blogs however, I must have heard it from one of those two sources, meaning that it did get coverage.

Perhaps the lack of outrage is over the fact that she didn't say anything outrageous. She gave her opinion, one that I think many would agree with. Where you see outrage, I see grasping at straws.

I don't know enough about the second story to comment on it.

[Alex]

I don't find anything objectionable in what Boxer said to Pelosi. I do find slightly more objectionable what you posit being said to Janet Reno, but that is not what was not what Boxer said.

As for the minimum wage thing, America Samoa and the Marshall Islands have always been excempt from the flat standard rate and putting America Samoa into the same classification would be a major change in the way that wages laws are handled there.

America Samoa has minimum wage regulations, just not the same ones as the most of the rest of the country. The Department of Labor has a special board that sets minimum wages within that territory by industry (see the very complex Minimum Wage workplace poster here).

Now, it is certainly open to debate whether America Samoa should get such individual treatment, but simply passing a blanket law that everybody in AS get $7.15 an hour would conflict with several other existing laws pertaining to America Samoa (and keep in mind that the citizens of AS do not have any direct representation in Congress).

So it makes sense to me that AS would be exempted from a blanket bill (as it always has been).

[BarTopDancer]

Visible Mojo for Alex.