Patch

A flurry of GOP victories or as Patch calls it, “A flurry of American defeats.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/politics/30pork.html?
Transportation Bill; The mammoth legislation was not available for public inspection until just before the votes. Most senators and representative boasted of the bacon they had managed to bring home. The special projects, called earmarks in Congressional terminology, amount to $24 billion, Almost all members of Congress got some project or another in their district. In what he called the "pork pecking order,"
"I wonder what Ronald Reagan would say," Mr. McCain said, noting that the late president was a critic of such Congressional largesse.



WASHINGTON, July 29 - The Senate voted unanimously on Friday to make permanent virtually all the main provisions of the law known as the USA Patriot Act

You know, our country is too open, too free," Arizona Senator John kyl



Senators on Friday endorsed the energy policy, 74 to 26. It includes $14.5 billion in industry and energy efficiency tax breaks

The bill gave the federal government new eminent-domain powers to clear paths for power lines -- a long-standing demand of the nation's electric utilities
The bill exempts oil and gas industries from some clean-water laws, streamlines permits for oil wells and power lines on public lands, and helps the hydropower industry appeal environmental restrictions
For example, it exempts oil and gas companies from Safe Drinking Water Act requirements when they inject fluids -- including some carcinogens -- into the earth at high pressure, a process known as hydraulic fracturing. And the bill will exempt petroleum well pads from storm-water regulations under the Clean Water Act.
This bill will allow America's most profitable companies to pollute our water supplies," said David Alberswerth of the Wilderness Society
It also includes an estimated $85 billion worth of subsidies and tax breaks for most forms of energy
Eco-friendly measures to tighten fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles and take a stand against global warming were deleted
The provision was just one example of how the energy bill, touted as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil or moderate gasoline prices, has been turned into a piñata of perks for energy industries.

The bill's most far-reaching provision may be the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, which has blocked the owners of utilities from owning other companies and has prevented mergers in the electricity industry.
Another Enron in the making here.

CAFTA; Who needs jobs?

Damn them tax and spend liberals; OPPS, I mean damn them cut taxes and spend conservatives