| OK, I'm kidding about the "very important" part, but I did think this was of nominal interest as I scanned the House docket for today, courtesy of DailyKos/CongressMatters: H.R. 2741 - To amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the City of Hermiston, Oregon, water recycling and reuse project (Rep. Walden - Natural Resources) H.R. 2971 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon, as the "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office" (Rep. Blumenauer - Oversight and Government Reform) OK, last item first: remember when I was saying last week (during a rant about the shameful cowardice our representatives showed with regard to ACORN) that you almost never see the entire House delegation from Oregon lean the same way on a bill? There was a reason I made an exception for symbolic or "no-brainer" bills, and it's exactly the kind of stuff we're talking about here--purely aesthetic measures that only someone with a political death wish would take exception to. Blumenauer proposed it, and the other four Reps are co-sponsors, so there you go. For five minutes, unity! So the PO in NE will now be known as the MLK PO--and given that it's located at 6th and Killingsworth, the same people who avoid MLK Boulevard based on a fear of crime will probably add the PO to their list of places not to go (whether their fears are founded or not). The other bill, 2741, I confess I don't know a lot about. From what I can tell, it's what--if it were a Democrat sponsoring it--Walden might call "pork;" the bill authorizes Interior to "participate" in Hermiston's water reclamation project. And by participate, I mean pay for--up to 25% of the total costs, it would seem. I'm not against it per se; I'm sure that Hermiston could use the help. But given that it's in Walden's district, and there are no other cosponsors--not even in his own state--call me skeptical. Anyone else have some insight, either on the bill or on the project? Anyway, thought it might be interesting to see the kinds of things that REALLY takes up a Congressman's day--not all that difficult health care, climate change and budgeting stuff. Post offices and recycling plants--that's the real currency of the House, and our guys are trading on it every day, ostensibly for our benefit. I know I'll sleep better tonight-- secure in the knowledge that we're one step closer to our goal of not having a single federal building left in America that has not been renamed for someone dead and famous. Take us to DefCon 5, Commander, and stand down the missiles! |
RSS Feed: http://www.loadedorygun.net/rss/rss2.xml
