Package contained funds for Volcano Monitoring? He complained because it
was a "waste of money". I wonder what Bobby (give me smaller government)
Jindal would have said had Congress included a Billion Dollars in the
Stimulus Bill for the design and manufacture of equipment to seal an oil
leak at 5,000 feet below sea-level. "Another Piece of Pork" would have
been the first thing out of the mouths of TEA Party members and out of
the mouths of the darlings of the TEA Party (Sarah Palin, Rand and Ron
Paul, Rush, Glen Beck and Governor Bobby). "Let Private Industry Alone"
would have been next out of the mouths of the Libertarians who along
with the TEA Party Conservatives believe only Big Business can save
America. If the Federal Government had spent money on Deep Sea Oil
Eruption Prevention and Research, Design and Manufacturing of equipment,
the "How dare we leave this debt to our grandchildren" crowd would have
been up in arms, but now they complain, "The US wasn't ready for a Major
Oil Spill".
Then there is the crowd that exclaims, "We went to the moon! How come we
can't stop a leak?" Maybe because the water pressure at the leak is ONE
TON PER SQUARE INCH !!! When I was a child in the 1950's, I watched a
movie in which creatures from a solar system millions of light years
away attacked Earth with ships and weapons beyond even what we have
today. Yet in less than a week, the Earthlings had developed planes and
weapons that were able to defeat the aliens. Too many movies with that
same theme have dulled the technological sensibilities of the American
Public, so of course, they expect miracle cures for stopping the oil
volcano under the Gulf's waters. In this year alone, we have seen that
we are helpless against Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Mine Explosions and Oil
Eruptions a mile below the water's surface. Our only way of surviving
through technology is prevention and mitigation by strict codes (can you
spell regulation?). The damage, death and destruction caused by
Earthquakes and Hurricanes can be mitigated by housing regulations. The
number of Oil spills and explosions, and Coal Mining explosions can be
eliminated or greatly reduced by regulations, and the damage done by
volcanoes may one day be mitigated by technological advances and the
regulations that require that those advances be put into use, fore
without implementation, technology is useless.
There are many people in this country who champion "State's Rights". So
why didn't Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida either
individually or in concert develop some deep sea oil leak sealing, oil
leak prevention, oil leak detection, oil leak cleanup and coastal
protection programs and equipment? Why didn't they either individually
or in concert spend money buying or building the equipment to protect
themselves? Because then they would have had to increase State Taxes?
Why should the people of Iowa have to pay for protecting the coastline
of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida? Does that sound
stupid or make sense to you? If it sounds stupid, then doesn't
championing "State's Rights" without spending money on State's
Responsibility sound just as stupid? And if it makes sense to you,
doesn't all this talk of eliminating big (and that means Federal)
Government mean that each state should take care of itself? Why not
break the Union into Fifty Separate Countries? Maybe because we should
act more as Citizens of America and Citizens of our environment than as
citizens of individual Gulf Coast States.
FreddieVee
