This'n'That; January 9th[Limbaugh;Burris;RedLights;Taxes;perks;slaughter

The Laws Are For You NOT THEM!! Immunity - Or Impunity? Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution states that Senators and Representatives: [S]hall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. Given the era in which the Constitution was written, this clause made good sense. Parliaments had much to fear from kings or other sovereigns who would use their own troops to interfere with legislative business. Additionally, partisans within Congress might very well be able to manipulate law enforcement officials to act maliciously against their political opponents, and thus influence the outcome of key votes. Predictably, lawmakers in the modern age have put their own "spin" on this clause. Not until 1992 was Congress put out of the business of helping Members to avoid traffic and parking tickets. Prior to that time, the House's Sergeant-At-Arms would process all the necessary paperwork on behalf of Members to have the tickets canceled, a process conducted with the District of Columbia Mayor's Office and the Department of Public Works. However, even without help from Congressional staff, lawmakers still often enjoy "free rides" from police who are reluctant to push tickets anyway. According to press accounts, 81-year-old Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) was recently involved in a rear-end collision with a van on Route 50 in Fairfax, VA, during which he produced to the ticketing officer a copy of the Constitution and pointed to the clause mentioned earlier in this section. At the Fair Oaks Police Station Byrd reiterated his claim of immunity and asked the shift commander to call the Commonwealth's Attorney for Fairfax to obtain confirmation that his claim was valid. Byrd was re-issued the ticket one week later, but he was not fined. Lawmakers claimed the right to exempt themselves from another system of "fines" known to children across America -- those applying to overdue library books. In 1994, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the "Library of Congress Book Protection Act," in response to official estimates that 1/3 of the books on loan from the Library of Congress were overdue, and that $12 million worth of books were "missing." In many cases, Senators, Representatives, and Congressional staff members were implicated. Even Congress's retirement policy has given lawmakers a legal "leg up" on the rest of America. According to the Wall Street Journal, former Rep. Philip Sharp's (D-IN) pension -- which began at $65,000 when he was just 52 years old -- would be "almost unheard of [in the private sector] because it exceeds by $14,000 or more the Tax Code limits Congress has placed on business deductions for early pensions above certain levels." "Geeze-Louise," DON'T HELP!! U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, is weighing in on the fate of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation by appealing to Gov. David Paterson to maintain funding for the agency that promotes the state’s wine and grape juice industry. Slaughter sent a letter to Paterson today in which she said the foundation’s “partnership with the state has taken this industry from economic crisis to being among the fastest growing areas in the agriculture and tourism sectors.” She said $3 million that the state allocated in this fiscal year is returning $3.4 billion to the New York economy. Paterson has proposed that funding for the wine and grape foundation be cut from the fiscal 2010 budget. Since the foundation was formed in 1985, more than 200 wineries have started in New York, Slaughter said. "In my district, wineries have flourished across Erie, Orleans, Monroe and Niagara counties with the foundation’s support. It is clear that this small investment in our wine and grape industry helps stimulate this essential sector of our agricultural economy in an economically depressed area,” she wrote. "Geeze-Louise," Paterson doesn't need help like that! You have a Trillion-Dollar budget to piss away-Dave doesn't! By your own numbers...... the New York wine and grape industry are well able to shoulder this expense on their own. If the 200 wineries you cited are the only ones in NYS [which I doubt!] they'd have to contribute but $15,000 to the foundation to match the state's previous funding. Again by your own numbers..... those same 200 wineries would reap a return-on-investment of $170,000.00!! a return of roughly 1034% NOT TOO SHABBY, wouldn'tcha say?? Limbaugh: 'Segregationist' Sen. Reid Barred Burris [as reported on Newsmax.com] Tuesday, January 6, 2009 6:37 PM By: David A. Patten Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday compared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to infamous Southern segregationists Lester Maddox and George Wallace, because he is blocking the appointment of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate. Bristling over how the media has covered the Senate’s refusal to seat Burris, Limbaugh blamed “a few extremist liberal racists and others” for questioning whether President-elect Barack Obama and Burris are “authentically black enough.” Conservatives, he said, do not think in such terms. “You’ve got a guy who’s legit, he’s qualified, and according to the Chicago Tribune today he’s ‘authentically black,’” Limbaugh told listeners. “And a bunch of white people would not let him in the door, would not let him use the restroom or the drinking water. Now what are we to make of this?” Had Republicans refused to seat a legally qualified African-American appointee, Limbaugh said, the media coverage would have been much different. “If Harry Reid were a Republican … he would have been stoned and pilloried, they would have demanded his ouster for his lack of sensitivity,” Limbaugh charged. Limbaugh continued his broadside against progressive hypocrisy on matters of race: “They are compassionate and feeling, and they love minorities and they want minorities to excel -- except, except when the minorities get too uppity. And then it’s time to revert to Bull Connor, or, in this case, Lester Maddox. “What’s the difference in dingy Harry and Lester Maddox? George Wallace? Remember, all these great segregationists of the past are Democrats. It’s in the blood, and it’s showing up on the steps of the United States Senate,” Limbaugh said. Lester Maddox is the late Georgia governor who defended states’ rights and was considered an advocate for segregation during the Civil Rights era. Bull Connor was the public safety commissioner of Birmingham, Ala., who used fire hoses to attack civil-rights marchers. Wallace, a former governor of Alabama, was an opponent of desegregation who ran for the presidency on four occasions. Limbaugh said that Democrats, by their treatment of Burris, are “in the process of delegitimizing themselves.” Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed Burris to fill the seat vacated by Obama. Limbaugh warned Democrats are on “thin Constitutional ice” in their refusal to accept Burris as a member of the Senate. Red light cameras as a moneymaker? Court says OK Not only is it OK for Chicago to use red light cameras to issue traffic tickets, but it’s also OK for the city to use the cameras as a means of generating extra income. That’s the ruling of a federal appeals court in a case where the owner of a car filed suit because a ticket was issued to her, even though she wasn’t driving the car at the time of the violation. The ruling by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided the woman’s right to due process wasn’t violated because the United States Supreme Court has upheld the seizure of cars, even in cases where the owner had nothing to do with the offense. And the judges wrote that the fact that the city’s red light cameras raise general revenue doesn’t condemn the system. According to the Chicago Sun-Times and other Chicago news sources, the red light cameras have generated more than $110 million in revenue so far. Most of the money is being used to reduce the city’s debt, as opposed to being plowed back into police or traffic operations. Chicago presently has 136 cameras and plans to add more. North Carolina committee recommends tolled interstates, mileage tax [This article found at http://www.landlinemag.com/] An appointed committee in North Carolina wants state lawmakers to consider tolling interstate highways and implementing a mileage-based tax to replace the state fuel tax. The North Carolina 21st Century Transportation Committee, appointed by the state General Assembly, submitted a final report to lawmakers in December containing several recommendations for funding transportation and infrastructure. Lawmakers will consider the recommendations over the course of the legislative session, which begins Jan. 28. The state faces a number of challenges including an aging infrastructure and a growing population. From 1990 to 2005, the state population grew 30 percent and vehicle miles traveled increased by 40 percent. North Carolina has more than 2,500 bridges deemed to be structurally deficient. The state currently ranks 49th in total revenue generated per lane mile. “The North Carolina Department of Transportation reports that to meet current needs and to prepare North Carolina for 2030, an estimated additional investment of over $65 billion is required to plan, design, build and maintain all aspects of our transportation systems,” committee members stated in the final report. Recommendations for generating revenue include: Tolling Interstate 95 border to border to pay for widening; tolling Interstate 77 from South Carolina to Interstate 40 in Statesville, NC, to pay for widening; and tolling all interstate highways at state borders; Implementing a tax on vehicle miles traveled as a supplement or alternative to the fuel tax; Indexing all fixed user fees to inflation; Eliminating transfers from the state Highway Trust Fund to the general fund, including State Highway Patrol funding; Increasing vehicle registration fees; Increasing the Highway Use Tax to 4 percent from 3 percent; Accelerating the state’s bond program to build critical infrastructure; and, Authorizing local governments to implement a sales tax of 1 percent for transportation. Spending that money should be based on strict priorities and using a “fix it first” policy, committee members said. Committee members are advocating congestion relief, a $300-million annual bridge program, and an increased use of rail for passengers and freight. Oregon governor wants further look into mileage tax [This article found at http://www.landlinemag.com/] A year after a report in Oregon said a tax system based on miles driven could one day replace per-gallon fuel taxes at the pump, Gov. Ted Kulongoski released a budget proposal for 2009 that calls for a mileage tax on many vehicles. As part of a transportation-related bill he has filed for the session, which convenes Monday, Jan. 12, the governor said he plans to recommend “a path to transition away from the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation.” Kulongoski said changes are needed because people are driving less, they are using more fuel-efficient vehicles, and the fuel tax doesn’t go as far as it used to. He said those reasons are enough to come up with an alternative method to pay for transportation work. To work toward that goal, Kulongoski wants the task force that studied and tested the idea of a mileage tax two years ago to continue their work. The pilot program equipped about 300 passenger vehicles with global positioning satellite devices that worked with fuel pumps at two service stations. The setup allowed participants to pay their mileage tax as they do their gas tax. They found that the participants were receptive to the experience. The program is not geared toward truckers in Oregon, because they already pay on a system of mileage and weight and not by the number of gallons consumed. Nevertheless, discussion on the issue at the federal level has the attention of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. The truckers group says the debate over federal transportation policy needs to be settled before the funding mechanism is advanced. However, the advancement of the tax collection method appears likely. “We think ultimately VMT is where the highway funding issue will have to go, but the capabilities to do that aren’t fully developed yet,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said. Advocates for the mileage-based tax system in Oregon acknowledge that any change is probably years away. The pilot program determined that manufacturers would need to install the technology in new vehicles because retrofitting vehicles would be too expensive. Older vehicles would continue to pay fuel taxes. Critics say the program that uses GPS could allow the government to track the movement of drivers. However, proponents say the ODOT experiment showed that transmission of vehicle locations is required. Til Nex'Time.......