Slashdot Mirror
House Dems Turn Out the Lights On the GOP
Politico is reporting that while GOP leaders opposed a motion to adjourn the House, the Democrats have closed up shop and even turned out the lights. While the lights and microphones have since been turned back on, it makes for an amusing mental image and possibly even a few dark YouTube video spoofs. "Only about a half-dozen Republicans were on the floor when this began, but the crowd has grown to about 20 now, according to Patrick O'Connor. 'This is the people's House,' Rep, Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said. 'This is not Pelosi's politiburo.' Democratic aides were furious at the GOP stunt, and reporters were kicked out of the Speaker's Lobby, the space next to the House floor where they normally interview lawmakers."
It's great that C-SPAN covers kindergarten now.
I'm missing the story other than Boehner and gang are trying to make a fuss about nothing.
The motion to adjourn passed, so the Speaker banged the gavel and they went home. Am I supposed to think that the Democrats are somehow disregarding the rules of the House and refusing to let Republicans speak?
The summary didn't state everything. Pelosi was trying to stop a vote concerning foreign oil drilling. The REP's are currently mad and speaking to the public who have gathered in the upstairs gallery, arguing (one-sided, of course) their concerns and solutions for rising gas and energy prices.
What actually happened, of course, was that the House adjourned for its August recess. As scheduled. Just like it does every year. Presumably it was scheduled months in advance. Everyone knew it.
Except this time the minority party refused to, you know, leave. Though the government is not in session, the Republicans insist on hanging around anyway.
Why? Not to get any work done. They're sticking around in the hopes of getting some press simply for being stupid.
It may work. If the Democrats did this, the media would be happy to portray them as whiny little losers who didn't know when to go home. (Which would basically be accurate.)
But since it's Republicans doing it, the media -- including Slashdot, in this case -- will find amusement in what the Dems "did" to the GOP. Politico, which is generally an organ of the Republican Party, is true to form by calling Democrats "furious" and "complaing" [sic]. Slashdot says the Dems "turned out the lights on" them and giggles that the Democrats left even though "GOP leaders opposed a motion to adjourn." (It doesn't matter what "GOP leaders" wanted. The motion to adjourn passed. So the House adjourned. Learn 2 parliamentary procedure, noobs.)
Calling the House a "politburo" (meaning "the policymaking committee of a Communist party") because it adjourned on schedule is -- and here I have to agree with the Democrat who was quoted -- moronic.
And the issue the GOP is demagoguing is gasoline prices and offshore drilling. This pushes today's stunt from ridiculous to pathetic. The Department of Energy's official projection is that if offshore drilling were legalized immediately, "any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant" -- even in 2030.
And that's an inflated stat, since its numbers include hypothetical drilling off the coast of California. The GOP is pushing to allow states to allow OCS drilling if they choose -- "states' rights," as the slogan goes. And California's politicians, including its Republican governor, have made it clear the state will not allow more drilling off its coast. So the actual benefit of the current GOP proposal would be about 2/3 of the DoE's hypothetical. In 2030 :)
It's hard to believe that the Republicans would hang around a vacated government building after everyone's gone home, and yell into a bullhorn about how Congress needs to debate lower gas prices right now -- not in September! -- when Bush's own Department of Energy admits any changes would have zero effect on oil prices for 9 years and "insignificant" effect after that.
The GOP's twitter feed indicates their dogma du jour is: "drill here drill now to get us through the next 10 to 15 years." Again, the DoE's projections indicate zero effect on oil production or prices for the next 9 years, and "insignificant" effect after that.
It's unbelievable how pathetic our national politics has become. This embarrassment is why we need the grownups back in charge. And every media outlet that fails to make clear why the stunt is pathetic is part of the problem. Sadly, I include Slashdot in this.
Yawn...."Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi's refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m. and are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess."
What a load. Even if the offshore drilling is allowed it will be many years before we see any benefit from it (assuming that prices actually go down) More corporate welfare from the Repubs.
I think that's closer to what he was trying to say.
'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
GOP: "We must protect this House!"
'a';DROP TABLE users; SELECT * FROM DATA WHERE name LIKE '%'... if you're reading this, it didn't work.
As I recall in 2003 the GOP chair of a committee refused to allow the Democratic members of the committe to speak, ignored a motion to continue the hearing and stormed off WITH the gavel in hand...all this beacuse the dems wanted to call some witnesses for testimony.
I forget the details but google knows all.
wait until you see the singapore or korean parliament footages. circus doesnt describe it.
even in turkish parliament there has been a lot of fights, and one representative was killed even, by a stray fist landing unintendedly.
Read radical news here
Even if the offshore drilling is allowed it will be many years before we see any benefit from it...
And you guys have been saying that for many years. That's why we couldn't fix the problem back then too. Now, many years later, it is not fixed.
More corporate welfare from the Repubs.
Translation: "Americans can't have cheaper gas because some corporation might make some money. It's worth it to have poor people suffer just so you can stick it to those nasty corporations."
I for one welcome our new Republican overlords... wait a minute
This brings a whole new meaning to "political hack."
Somehow I expected better from /. though.
Oh well...
you must be new here.
First, it hardly seems cool to hijack the floor and irk a bunch of Congressional police who should be going home to try and ram some unlikely legislation through before a scheduled vacation.
Secondly, typing the PIN into the PA on accident isn't hacking, especially when that PIN is probably "12345." That only counts as being a hacker in a Harrison Ford movie. Real hacking films, like "Hackers" and "Jurrasic Park" show us true hacking, where you fly through file-systems in 3D.
all it is is flames in both directions. we have more important things to discuss. like, for instance, goatse.cx
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
This may have been a "stunt", but it's politics. You act like this stuff never happens. The whole thing was done to protest the Democrats' plan of adjourning the Congress so that there would be no more calls on the House floor to open up oil expoloration, something that, despite your opinion on the matter, the public overwhelmingly supports. Pelosi's idea was, no session, no cameras, no problem. She figures the issue will hurt Democrats less if no one actually speaking about it in Congress. And be honest, it's smart politics, and if the positions were reversed, and it were Democrats running this protest, you'd be screaming like a banshee about how fascist the GOP was for "cutting off debate".
The motion to adjourn passed? Of course it did. Right along party lines. The GOP wants to keep this issue in the press, because it's popular and it helps them. The Democrats are hoping this issue goes away, because it hurts them. What's the approval rating of Congress now? 9 percent?
By the way, "Dogma Du Jour". Good, lets have more, because the US could be an energy exporter if it wanted to be. Hell yes, drill more. Use every option we have. You want to get political? Fine. The Democrats "Dogma Du Jour" is you people are just going to have to do with less and pay more for it. I'll take our position over yours all day long.
I think liberal Slashdotters protest too much...
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Oil prices are high because speculators think future supply will be low. If we drill, speculators may think future supply will be higher. This will lower current prices even though the oil won't be immediately available.
You are assuming that everyone is going to go hang out at their own 1000 acre ranch.
Congress adjourns BECAUSE we are a representative democracy. Most congressmen go to their home districts and then spend all their time meeting with the people (YOU) to better understand what you want and represent you better.
This is congress doing their job.
What really tells is how active Congress is when they are in session. This Congress has been very active even though all the important legislation has been vetoed. Personally I am looking forward to meeting with my representative (Jim Marshal D-Ga) without having to fly to Washington.
News for Nerds... er, ok.. how is this?
Were the lights turned off by robot running linux?
Seriously editors, the best way to compete with Digg is not to compete with Digg. People will come.
Elected representatives are supposed to remain in touch with the districts they represent. Having them remain in Washington, D.C. 11 and 1/2 months a year makes it difficult to do that.
Not, of course, that every representative uses his or her vacation time to keep in touch with his or her constituents, mind you. But that's part of the point, at least.
Sean Daugherty "I have walked in Eternity -- and Eternity weeps."
You are an idiot. Gross profit means nothing. Their profit margin was about 8%. There are many more companies with a higher profit margin.
The value of crude oil has gone up considerably in the last 10 years. All the oil that was not pumped out of the ground under the U.S. and burned in the last decade is now much more valuable, and if you can avoid pumping and burning it for another 10 years then it will be still more valuable.
Given that Americans are handing huge bills to future generations, including a $10 trillion debt and another $80 trillion in unfunded liabilities (Medicare, Social Security), it is nice that some valuable resources can be passed on too. It is unfortunate that many Americans seem to think "If we don't drill and burn this crude oil now, *I* won't benefit from it! Drill Drill Drill, Burn Burn Burn! It's MY crude oil and I want to BURN it NOW!"
Except that the august recess has always been in place, regardless of if you are a dem or a rep. Bush took vacations all the time and extended the amount of time taken compared to previous presidents. Such is not the case here. Also, The dems are preventing the vote as a matter of principle. There are already tons of areas approved for drilling that have not yet been used, the reps just want to drill in areas that are protected as any disaster in those areas if they were drilling could cause massive economic and environmental damage. The economic being the main part. California will not allow off short drilling because their economy is based on costal attractions and seaports. If there is a major oilspill there, you can kiss that goodbye. Why drill in higher risk places when you still other other reserves to tap?
For these reasons, the dems are preventing the vote. The already scheduled vacation time is just a means to an end. Trying to point to this as an example of hypocrisy is just dumb.
Why the flying fuck are any of our "concerned" leaders taking a fucking vacation when according to so many of them our country is on the road to hell? Why aren't they working their assess off to make the country, so many of them "love", a better place?
Could it be that few if any of them actually give a fuck about us? Could it be that maybe they do this for themselves, and themselves alone, regardless of their political alignment.
Wake up folks, they don't care, they don't love you, they don't want to make the world better for you, or anyone else. They want to mold the world to be the way they see it.
Bush, McCain, Clinton, Pelosi, Obama, Cheney. It goes for all of them. There may be a few good folks left up there, but they are completely outnumbered.
You mad
Republicans in Congress had ~160 hours of hearings into allegations that the Clinton administration vandalized the White House before turning it over to Bush. (They failed to find a single instance of vandalism) They spent ~12 hours investigating the 9/11 attacks. That's why they are now in the minority - because they cannot govern worth a damn. Today's stunt - ignoring the rules of procedure to grandstand for environmentally damaging policies that won't make a difference in gas prices for decades if ever - shows they have not learned their lesson.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant
zero effect on oil production or prices for the next 9 years
It's ths kind of thinking, or lack of it, that got us into this problem in the first place. You folks can't think 6 inches in front of your dicks. IF it does take that long to get production started, then GET THE FUCK STARTED ON IT!
And despite the drugs you are on, if the situation was reversed, then ABCCBSNBCMSNBCCNN would have folks up there covering it like flys on horse crap.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
A lot of real people are in a world of hurt with these high gas prices. America simply announcing there will be plenty of oil by its commitment to drill will drop prices over night. But Pelosi's summer vacation and politics trump the less advantaged. Par for the course for Democrats.
Headline: Nancy Pelosi is trying to save the world: Women and minorities hardest hit.
Politics is mostly theater, faux outrage, and pandering. Why would a stunt like this cause the average Slashdot reader's blood to boil?
Because it's the GOP pulling the stunt. I don't recall much scoffing at Dennis Kucinich's attempt to hold impeachment hearings on President Bush. No, I guess that was all about a righteous avenger shining a spotlight on The Greatest Evil Our Planet Has Ever Known.
These kinds of stunts get the media's attention and some coverage for issues one party or the other thinks is important. The fact that the Democrats didn't even hold a vote on domestic drilling despite overwhelming public support is something that ought to be mocked.
Good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're beautiful!
You've a great deal of unfounded claims there.
This was not an abuse of rules, nor would any reasonable observer claim the Democratic Party members have "abused" the rules as aggressively (nor broken as many) as the Republicans who control the House for the previous 12 years. Simply adjourning - which cuts off formal floor debate inherently - is not comparable to changing bills after they had been passed, holding votes open longer than permissible or the abusive use of holds (in the Senate). Your claims to the contrary are transparently partisan.
I know Congress has a deserved reputation for wasting money, but somehow I don't think they keep all the microphones, cameras and lights on in the months they spend adjourned. And C-Span is not contractually required to carry what is being said in the House regardless of whether or not its in session; you invented that out of whole cloth. They frequently don't show House debate - for instance if there is a major political story or an important House committee meeting. To make such a suggestion implies an almost total lack of familiarity with the channel.
The Ds adjourned. They didn't let the Republicans control the agenda. Boo-hoo. The House is designed for majority rule and the Republicans should get used to it since few 'experts' think they'll have more than 200 members next term.
Rep. John Culberson of Texas is covering the "blackout" via his Tiwtter account and on Qik. I like the idea of Congressmen speaking without mics like the 1800s but Twittering away in the darkened chamber (even if it isn't really exactly like that).
What a dumb thing to say, and absolutely opposite of your stated political opinion. Please, state for the record that you wish congress to enact more laws. I really wish I could see your face right now, because I know you are gritting your teeth and frothing at the mouth due to cognitive dissonance.
You really think that passing more laws is going to fix this? REALLY? You think congress should cancel their regularly scheduled vacation so they can pass more laws? I do not for a second believe that you really mean that.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
"The point is that more drilling isn't a fix. More drilling in the US will provide a relatively small amount of oil which will delay our energy problems for months, maybe a few years at best."
More drilling alone isn't a fix by itself, but it's patently stupid and dishonest to say that more oil in the supply line won't help prices.
"The Republicans are putting on a show today because it looks good to the unwashed masses, but getting their drilling won't solve our energy problems."
I notice that, to liberals, when the issue is liberal and popular with Americans, then they're a great and wise people, righteous in their anger at the Republicans. But when the issue is conservative and supported by Americans, they're stupid unwashed masses.
If you were really concerned about us solving our energy problems, you'd actually let us solve them. We've got plenty of ways to do it... more drilling, more shale, more coal to gasoline, more nuclear... liberals just don't like those options. What you're really mad about is that we won't do it your way... with nothing but biofuels and electric cars.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
While I agree the stunt is a little immature I commend them for drawing attention to such an important issue- Nancy Pelosi. She has refused to allow the house to vote on offshore drilling.
First and foremost, unless the issue involves human rights: such as legalizing rape or murder, the house has a right to vote on it. The people of this country have a right to vote on subjects- that's what makes a democratic republic.
Second, I am one who feels the price of oil would drop with offshore drilling. It's a simple supply and demand problem. The supply is scarce so the cost rises. This allows oil speculators to raise the price even higher. Oil industry experts believe that oil could reach the market in 3 years; don't believe the 7-15 year nonsense. See 1980s oil glut for how supply and demand effect oil prices.
Third, I truly believe moving away from oil as a fuel source is the ultimate solution. This will not happen today, tomorrow, or 10 years from now. The correct action today is to unburden the lower class and the economy with the cost of gasoline by increasing oil supply.
Fourth, anyone who believes that Exxon makes excessive profits is a moron. 11.68 billion on 138.07 billion of revenue- 8.45% profit. That's considered an average profit in the business world.
Your argument is essentially that they acted inappropriately because their adjournment was premature and was therefore a premature adjournment.
There was a perfectly valid vote where a majority chose to adjourn. Republicans wanted to take control of the agenda. They were not allowed to. The Senate had adjourned the day before. Its grandstanding by a party too used to being able to bully Democrats.
Which just shows what this is about — not solutions, not governance, not RESCUING THE ECONOMY THEY DESTROYED...politics.
Politics is how you get things done. Politics is nothing but action from a set of ideas. Everytime the Democrats "get things done", they're engaging in politics too. As for the economy "they destroyed"... who? Which party has been in control of Congress when gas prices shot up and the economy downturned?
And a downturn (not even a recession... we know that now) is "destroyed"? Are you kidding me?
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
If the Republicans cut off debate on the Democrats and went home for vacation, I can guarantee you that this story would have been about the Republicans censoring the Democrats.
Yes, because Newt Gingrich and Dennis Hastert were *SO* well-known for their kind-hearted efforts to make peace with the opposition party and affect bi-partisan legislation. Nope, no heavy-handedness with those guys.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
The public overwhelmingly supports it? Citation or you're just talking out your ass. The last 3 polls I saw stated exactly the opposite.
My pleasue. Here you go. I got my poll results from CNN. Where are you getting yours?
73 percent of Americans favor offshore drilling.
I'd call 73 percent overwhelming, wouldn't you? And even in California, long an anti-drilling bastion, support for drilling is now at 51 percent and climbing.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Increased capacity down the line might move oil producers to increase their production now (because of the decreased future profits from keeping it in the ground). 20-40$ per barrel is of course a stupid amount of money to account for that.
The market doesn't speculate based on fundamentals though, the market speculates on based on what they perceive the market will speculate on based on what they perceive the market will speculate on based on what they perceive the market will speculate on .... based on the fundamentals. Pumping up bubbles is a completely rational thing to do when leverage is available (and the collapse of the housing markets have made a lot of capital available for oil speculation). Or at least it's rational as long as you think you are smarter than everyone else, better able to find the percentage advantages needed to make the most of the leverage and smart enough to see when to get out.
It's not so much that the announcement of drilling would change the fundamentals, but everyone expects it to be the pin prick which will burst the bubble (which thus becomes a self fulfilling prophecy). Don't be the one left holding the bag ;)
His schedule was often published...he typically did 1-1.5 hours of meetings when in Texas and the remainder of the time he "cleared brush" etc.
I do 1-1.5 hours of meetings a day when I am on vacation and I always keep the football around....sounds like Bush spent a lot of time on vacation and his performance demonstrates that.
Maybe those people that I elect and pay shouldn't be on vacation while I'm looking for second job so I can pay for the gas to get to my first job!
If you really want your elected representatives to spend all of their time in DC, I'm sure some of them would be perfectly fine with that. Sure, you can call being out of session and returning to the districts they actually represent a 'vacation'... but most of the time, I wouldn't.
"We have to go forth and crush every world view that doesn't believe in tolerance and free speech." - David Brin
http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/09/news/economy/oil_cuba/index.htm
US companies didn't bother to submit a bid because legally they couldn't drill that close to US shore. China has no such limitation.
Changing a bill after it had been passed
Holding open vote
(additional examples)
It is against House rules to keep a vote open in order to alter the outcome.
"Abusive holds" is difficult to quantify but I'd point towards Tom Coburn's extensive holds.
If...
the price of oil = X dollars + (opening a wildlife area to drilling and damage)
...then we are not lowering the price of oil; we're just paying for some of the oil with financial resources and some with environmental resources.
The price of oil has still gone up.
Dear Britain: I've heard you have a royal family you're not using, and I know they've got better sense than our politicos. So how about this: We'll take 'em off your hands, you won't have to subsidize them anymore, and we'll get someone with a modicum of common sense in charge. Thank you.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Also, Republicans can thank (Rep. John) Shadegg for turning on the microphones the first time. Apparently, the fiesty Arizona conservative started typing random codes into the chamber's public address system and accidentally typed the correct code, allowing Republicans brief access to the microphone before it was turned off again.
Isn't that unauthorized access to an electronic system? Surely such hacking is subject to prosecution.
""There are 20-plus million acres that are currently leased by the oil companies which have either been drilled and then capped or never drilled at all."
Those lands might have oil. In places we know there's oil... off the coasts and in ANWR... oil companies have been forbidden to drill for purely political reasons. So blaming the oil companies for wanting to prioritize drilling on places other than their current leased lands is hypocritical... they leased them because that was the only alternative after liberals forbade them from drilling in the places that they knew had oil.
What Democrats are doing here is just a stalling tactic, and people see right through it.
"Oil is more than halfway to being used up."
Even if that were true (and there's a lot of dispute on that), that's existing fields. It certainly isn't true for the massive fields we haven't even touched yet, including the arctic, the US coasts, and of of Brazil's coast. There's almost certainly more fields we haven't found yet. And that's not including all of the massive amounts of other sources that could be converted to gasoline, like shale and coal. This "peak"... this "scarcity"... is artificially induced.
"Mark my words: it may be forced on us by the rest of the world community, but at some point down the line, George Bush and Dick Cheney will have to face what Pinochet faced."
Only in your fevered fantasies. And there are affordable treatment options for that kind of thing now.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
There was a perfectly valid vote where a majority chose to adjourn. Republicans wanted to take control of the agenda. They were not allowed to.
Also the Democrats may have cloned the "adjourn and turn off the lights" ploy from the Republicans - except that the Democrats did it by the rules.
Here's how I understand it (from reports - I wasn't there - maybe somebody can correct any errors...)
At the Nevada Republican state convention (supposedly run by the delegates chosen in the district caucuses) the Ron Paul contingent was very strong. Romney had the most delegates, Paul was a close second, and McCain a distant third - though the party machine was for him. (Nevada is a very libertarian state and might have gone for Paul big-time except that, with a large Mormon population and a big campaign push, Romney squeaked by. Then Romney dropped out and endorsed McCain.)
The party elite ran the convention and pushed a rules change to elect a (McCain) slate they had chosen. Both the Paul and Romney deligates revolted, pushed through their own change (candidates proposed from the floor), and were busy selecting national delegates with Paul getting the lion's share.
The McCain delegates walked out to try to get below a quorum, but weren't successful. So they came back in.
Then (in violation of the rules, which requires a vote) the chair announced that the meeting was recessed (allegedly because the time for which they'd rented the hall had expired - turned out not to be true). The party hacks quick-walked out, shutting down the PA system and the lights on their way. By the time the delegates got things back on enough people had left in the confusion that they were below quorum (and somebody called for a count, which made that official and convinced the rest to leave, rather than pick a new chair and continue).
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
And assholes like you are the reason this country is in such bad shape, assholes like Bush who can't admit when they're wrong.
t0rkm3 provided you with information that proved you didn't have all the facts in the matter and when given that opportunity, instead of using that opportunity to reassess your position (because, in case you didn't realize it, you were irrefutably wrong) you reply to t0rkm3 with "Please try to do basic sanity checks on what you quote, to see if it actually supports your premise."
Guess what asshole? It did. YOU created the "fact" that "there's a little over a year's worth of readily accessible oil in Bakken, not the 174 hundred billion barrels you originally claimed." Read the god damned link. It does not say what you claim there, it says
. That in no way resembles your statement, made immediately after you were proven wrong.
So, instead of intelligently assessing the argument and admitting you were factually wrong about a major point in your post, you lie, attack the person who proved you wrong, and then pretend you were right all along.
How do you have time to post of Slashdot when you're running the country Mr. Bush?
Maybe you're not aware of it, but from the mid 90s to 2006, there's all kinds of shut-out stories of precisely the kind you're talking about -- the Republican party didn't episodically decide to shut the Dems out, there was a concerted effort and plan for marginalizing them as fully as possible. Take a listen to Act III of This American Life's Houses of Ill Repute episode if you're interested in some perspective.
Personally, I don't recall stories during that time period about how the Republicans were censoring the Democrats, but perhaps, since you have *guaranteed* that it would be covered in that manner, you can put up some examples.
Tweet, tweet.
So on $400 an $11 markup is gouging? I want to shop where YOU shop.
I wanted to point out that those numbers are $11 billion per quarter and $400 billion per year. The correct numbers are $11.68b profit this quarter, on $138b revenue this quarter.
AND, do you want to know who's #2 in the 'record profits' field? Is it Shell, Conoco, etc? Nope, it's Walmart. Look it up.
I looked it up and you are incorrect. As of April 2008, the number two spot, sorted by profits, is indeed Royal Dutch Shell. Walmart is way down there at #19 (you'll have to count). See http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/18/biz_2000global08_The-Global-2000_Prof.html .
It depends on what it costs to pick that money up.
The liberals, when they're not whining about oil company profits (since apparently this is a zero-sum economy?), hint that both drilling and usage, might cause environmental damage. If the drilling makes gasoline cost $.02 per gallon less, but then I have to pay an extra $.06 per gallon in taxes to 1) replant forests in Alaska and clean up oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and 2) buy carbon credits to offset what I'm burning, then yeah, I say leave the money on the ground.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Is there any chance this was broadcast on C-Span and recorded? If so, link please.
I'm not very fond with the title. This implies that the Democrats just randomly closed shop, while today was actually the first day of the August Recess -- a tradition which has existed for a long time. Apparently, some Republicans decided to stick around in the House.
There's a difference between a teacher walking out on the student and students staying after school ends.