I’m unaware of anything they will do that will be of any value

From the Examiner, Pelosi Seeks Global Warming Committee

The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) right ater congratulating the new Govenor of California, Martin O’Malley is forming a special committee to push global warming legislation.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said the committee would hold hearings and recommend legislation on how to reduce greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide generated by fossil fuels, that most scientists blame for a gradual warming of the earth’s climate.

“I promise to do everything in my power to achieve energy independence … and to stop global warming,”

Well, not everyone is agrees that a special committee is the best way to go:

“We should probably name it the committee on world travel and junkets,”

“We’re just empowering a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs to go around and make speeches and make commitments that will be very difficult to honor,”

“They’re going to get under the feet of and interfere with those who are trying to do a decent job of legislating,”

“I’m unaware of anything they will do that will be of any value.”

Who said this? A CEO from an evil “Big Oil” company or one of thier paid scientists? Jack Abramoff? Rush Limbaugh?

Nope, it was not even a Republican.

Those quotes came from an AP interview with Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the longest serving house member and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which overseas the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency.

AA County Exec Requests Fast Track For Rt 175 Widening

From WBAL:

In a letter to Governor O’Malley, Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold requested that the timetable for the widening of Route 175 in Anne Arundel County be accelerated to deal with increased traffic that is expected along Route 175 due to base realignment and closure.

“This road-widening project is a top transportation priority in Anne Arundel County and is vital to help us prepare for BRAC’S explosive growth,” said County Executive Leopold in the letter.

Leopold’s request is to put the widening on the same schedule as BRAC expansion. The current plan has BRAC expansion in 2011 while the 175 project is currently scheduled to be completed in 2013.  One would hope that they can complete the road work before the expansion so that we don’t have increased traffic that also has to fight construction.

Are you a Lobbyist?

The US Senate is trying to craft new “ethics regulations” that in part will effect “Grass-roots” orginizations. From the Washington Times:

The ethics bill before the Senate not only cracks down on lawmakers, but also subjects politically active ministers and neighborhood groups to the same rules as K Street lobbyists.

Under the legislation, grass-roots organizations that attempt to “influence the general public” to contact members of Congress would have to register as lobbyists and file financial reports — or face a $200,000 fine. The requirements could apply to a preacher who goes on TV or radio and tells listeners to call their congressman in support of a particular issue, such as a constitutional amendment against homosexual “marriage.”

The bill is opposed by a wide variety of organizations from the right and the left. But don’t worry, the unions get an exemption:

The grass-roots provision would exempt unions and other organizations that attempt to influence only their members, shareholders and employees. It also would apply only to groups that collect or spend more than $25,000 in three months.

Does this mean that unions that support provisions such as the “Wal-Mart” bill, place signs in support of candidates at polls and provide other support to canidates and political parties would still be required to register? What’s good for the “evil lobbyist” should apply equally to the “good activist.”

It would be nice to be able to find out who is providing support to groups when they advocate on an issue. When someone airs an ad and the tag line is something like “The organization for fairness and everything good” having a transparent way to to find out where the funds came from would be a step in the right direction. The balance will be to assure that everyone has their constitutional rights protected and that the reporting requirements don’t become so burdensome that such activities become effectively prohibited.

In the same legislation, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) has also offered the “Ried Amendment” from Robert Novak:

Sponsored by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the proposal is called the “Reid amendment” because he inadvertently inspired it. Coburn would tighten loose anti-earmark restrictions in the ethics bill by prohibiting senators from requesting earmarks that financially benefit a senator, an immediate family member of a senator or a family member of a senator’s staffer.

The proposal follows the revelation that Reid’s four sons and his daughter’s husband all have been lawyers or lobbyists for special interests. While Reid has declared they are barred from lobbying for their clients in his office, there is little doubt they have taken advantage of their close proximity to a powerful senator.

Can’t wait to see how this plays out.