Drink Gin
My father always told me to drink "gin and not vodka, that way people will know you're drunk and not just stupid". It's his variant of 'better to remain silent and have people think you're stupid than open your mouth and prove it'. The reason why I bring this up is that the Senate passed the DC voting rights bill yesterday, But Jon Kyl went and opened his mouth.
Now, I did call his office and left a rather peeved message about the DCFD and the drinking water, but I have yet to get a call back. Sen. Kyl has been much speedier on the e-mails though... this boiler plate letter (source: dcist.com) was sent out to many who had asked him to take care of some things in DC for us since he was, by his own words, our representative and had our best interests at heart. Did he thank us for letting him know our concerns and promise to have a member of his staff look into anything for us? Oh, no. No, no, no. Sen. Kyl went straight for the passive-agressive condescension topped with a generous helping of threatening current laws and a big f-you to DC.
Date: Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 11:03 AM Subject: Response message from Senator Kyl
Thank you for your recent email to my staff, commenting on my remarks about the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, S. 160, and requesting assistance in resolving various problems affecting residents of the District of Columbia.
Unless you are suggesting that Congress should repeal Home Rule for the District and reclaim primary responsibility for the City's operations, I would encourage you to contact Mayor Fenty and members of the D.C. City Council to share your concerns. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is also available to assist with constituent service involving federal matters.
As I said on the floor of the Senate, Members of Congress, by their very presence living and working in the Washington area, have a stake in a well run City, and Congress has given the District's government substantial federal resources to help promote that outcome. In fact, as I pointed out in my remarks on February 24, City residents pay an average of $11,582 in federal taxes each year, yet receive back nearly six times that amount -- $65,109 -- from the federal government, according to a study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation. That is six times more than New Mexico, the state with the next highest return.
A final point: Article I of the U.S. Constitution is explicit in limiting representation in the U.S. House of Representatives
and the Senate to the states. Those who wish to change that should do so the right way, i.e., by proposing an amendment
to the Constitution, working for its approval by both houses of Congress, and then seeking ratification by the requisite number
of states.
No one is allowed to ignore the Constitution or avoid the amendment process simply because it is easy or convenient
to do so, or yields more immediate results.
Sincerely,
JON KYL United States Senator
Mr. Kyl! Do you speak to your AZ constituents that way? Do you kiss their babies with that mouth!? I hope not, or your re-election looks pretty grim. Funny how that works, that voting is power thing. I wonder why DC would want a say in what gets done with our money.
Furthermore, Senator, I did some fact checking. Your source, The Tax Foundation doesn't have numbers up online for DC, so now I'm even more suspect of it, but let me tell you something, just because you call something non-partisan, doesn't mean it's accurate. The only mention I could find is your $11,582, but no expenditure data. Hell, technically, I'm a non-partisan source, but you know I'm a fire-breathin' liberal, right? So about your "six times more than New Mexico" statement, lets take a look at the facts. That's right, Senator, the DC operating budget is online. You must hate that whole transparency thing.
So, if we look at what affects the residents of this city, (not including land not owned by the Federal government, controlled by the Federal Park Service and therefore not under DC home rule jurisdiction meaning what we actually get to decide to use - which isn't how Federal parks in other states are run), for FY 2009, DC has an operating budget of $10.1B. We paid $6B in District taxes (property, income, sales, etc), and $2.8B was contributed by Federal funds. I'll admit that I'm not sure what Major Fenty means by "enterprise" contributing the remaining $1.3B, so I guess we can add that to the Federal total making it $4.1B Since we paid, by your own numbers, about $6B in Federal taxes, your six times New Mexico figure seems a little off.
Now I can understand that District residents benefit from upkeep of federal lands, esp. the tourism aspect, which increases local sales tax etc, so I'll let the $1.9B slide. However, here's the important part: the budget numbers I pulled have to be submitted and okay-ed by Congress, a legislative body we do not elect. Are you sensing a trend here, Senator? Please pull your head out of your nether regions before you piss off your home state by being un-American. We are not asking for control of federal lands, we are asking that good, (mostly) law abiding citizens of this country are not relegated to second class status because of lack of representation. Do you think if the King had sent Washington and Jefferson a whole bunch of money, they would have laid down their weapons, Mr. Kyl? Do you think Paul Revere would have stayed in bed that night and thought "No need to warn anyone of the approaching army, they say we get enough money"? No. An American citizen has certain rights and you are conflating withholding them with upholding the rule of law.
The rights of a minority should never be decided by a majority without a vested interest. Unless you'd like to tell me that I'm not an American citizen, I get a vote in Congress. But you'd have to rip my SS Card from my cold, dead hands.
Now, I did call his office and left a rather peeved message about the DCFD and the drinking water, but I have yet to get a call back. Sen. Kyl has been much speedier on the e-mails though... this boiler plate letter (source: dcist.com) was sent out to many who had asked him to take care of some things in DC for us since he was, by his own words, our representative and had our best interests at heart. Did he thank us for letting him know our concerns and promise to have a member of his staff look into anything for us? Oh, no. No, no, no. Sen. Kyl went straight for the passive-agressive condescension topped with a generous helping of threatening current laws and a big f-you to DC.
Date: Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 11:03 AM Subject: Response message from Senator Kyl
Thank you for your recent email to my staff, commenting on my remarks about the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, S. 160, and requesting assistance in resolving various problems affecting residents of the District of Columbia.
Unless you are suggesting that Congress should repeal Home Rule for the District and reclaim primary responsibility for the City's operations, I would encourage you to contact Mayor Fenty and members of the D.C. City Council to share your concerns. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is also available to assist with constituent service involving federal matters.
As I said on the floor of the Senate, Members of Congress, by their very presence living and working in the Washington area, have a stake in a well run City, and Congress has given the District's government substantial federal resources to help promote that outcome. In fact, as I pointed out in my remarks on February 24, City residents pay an average of $11,582 in federal taxes each year, yet receive back nearly six times that amount -- $65,109 -- from the federal government, according to a study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation. That is six times more than New Mexico, the state with the next highest return.
A final point: Article I of the U.S. Constitution is explicit in limiting representation in the U.S. House of Representatives
and the Senate to the states. Those who wish to change that should do so the right way, i.e., by proposing an amendment
to the Constitution, working for its approval by both houses of Congress, and then seeking ratification by the requisite number
of states.
No one is allowed to ignore the Constitution or avoid the amendment process simply because it is easy or convenient
to do so, or yields more immediate results.
Sincerely,
JON KYL United States Senator
Mr. Kyl! Do you speak to your AZ constituents that way? Do you kiss their babies with that mouth!? I hope not, or your re-election looks pretty grim. Funny how that works, that voting is power thing. I wonder why DC would want a say in what gets done with our money.
Furthermore, Senator, I did some fact checking. Your source, The Tax Foundation doesn't have numbers up online for DC, so now I'm even more suspect of it, but let me tell you something, just because you call something non-partisan, doesn't mean it's accurate. The only mention I could find is your $11,582, but no expenditure data. Hell, technically, I'm a non-partisan source, but you know I'm a fire-breathin' liberal, right? So about your "six times more than New Mexico" statement, lets take a look at the facts. That's right, Senator, the DC operating budget is online. You must hate that whole transparency thing.
So, if we look at what affects the residents of this city, (not including land not owned by the Federal government, controlled by the Federal Park Service and therefore not under DC home rule jurisdiction meaning what we actually get to decide to use - which isn't how Federal parks in other states are run), for FY 2009, DC has an operating budget of $10.1B. We paid $6B in District taxes (property, income, sales, etc), and $2.8B was contributed by Federal funds. I'll admit that I'm not sure what Major Fenty means by "enterprise" contributing the remaining $1.3B, so I guess we can add that to the Federal total making it $4.1B Since we paid, by your own numbers, about $6B in Federal taxes, your six times New Mexico figure seems a little off.
Now I can understand that District residents benefit from upkeep of federal lands, esp. the tourism aspect, which increases local sales tax etc, so I'll let the $1.9B slide. However, here's the important part: the budget numbers I pulled have to be submitted and okay-ed by Congress, a legislative body we do not elect. Are you sensing a trend here, Senator? Please pull your head out of your nether regions before you piss off your home state by being un-American. We are not asking for control of federal lands, we are asking that good, (mostly) law abiding citizens of this country are not relegated to second class status because of lack of representation. Do you think if the King had sent Washington and Jefferson a whole bunch of money, they would have laid down their weapons, Mr. Kyl? Do you think Paul Revere would have stayed in bed that night and thought "No need to warn anyone of the approaching army, they say we get enough money"? No. An American citizen has certain rights and you are conflating withholding them with upholding the rule of law.
The rights of a minority should never be decided by a majority without a vested interest. Unless you'd like to tell me that I'm not an American citizen, I get a vote in Congress. But you'd have to rip my SS Card from my cold, dead hands.