I Missed You, Fellow Ragers!
Apparently, a week away in Internets time seems to translate to 2 years in Real Time. I missed out on so much Rage™! Woe. On the plus side, I picked up a couple fabulous books that I really needed to read, such as:
This made me happy and sparked some hope for the sanity of people in my state. From thisficklemob, via Daily Kos: BREAKING VA NEWS: Blogs force Cosgrove to withdraw HB1677! Whoo!!! That's fucking awesome. Okay, I can't believe they were going to actually pass that shit. I hate this state SO MUCH. ::smacks virginia:: NoVa seriously, seriously needs to secede. Anyways, still - Go Go Grassroots Blogging! ::raises toast::
Also, like we all suspected, Dean is running for DNC Chair. ROCK! I can't wait to see where Howard goes with this.
In ickiness, I'm continued to be shocked and appalled by Cesaer Bush's inaugural plans. And now the Bush administration is wanting the District to foot the bill for this shit? DC, which is so incredibly poor and where something like 91% of the residents voted against him? This is bullshit.
U.S. Tells D.C. to Pay Inaugural Expenses
Other Security Projects Would Lose $11.9 Million
By Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 11, 2005; Page A01
D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week's inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects.
Federal officials have told the District that it should cover the expenses by using some of the $240 million in federal homeland security grants it has received in the past three years -- money awarded to the city because it is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack.
But that grant money is earmarked for other security needs, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said in a Dec. 27 letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Williams's office released the letter yesterday.
Williams estimated that the city's costs for the inauguration will total $17.3 million, most of it related to security. City officials said they can use an unspent $5.4 million from an annual federal fund that reimburses the District for costs incurred because of its status as the capital. But that leaves $11.9 million not covered, they said.
"We want to make this the best possible event, but not at the expense of D.C. taxpayers and other homeland security priorities," said Gregory M. McCarthy, the mayor's deputy chief of staff. "This is the first time there hasn't been a direct appropriation for the inauguration."
A spokesman for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District, agreed with the mayor's stance. He called the Bush administration's position "simply not acceptable."
"It's an unfunded mandate of the most odious kind. How can the District be asked to take funds from important homeland security projects to pay for this instead?" said Davis spokesman David Marin.
The region has earmarked federal homeland security funds for such priorities as increasing hospital capacity, equipping firefighters with protective gear and building transit system command centers.
OMB spokesman Chad Kolton said no additional appropriation is needed for the inauguration.
"We think that an appropriate balance of money from [the annual reimbursement] fund and from homeland security grants is the most effective way to cover the additional cost the city incurs," Kolton said. "We recognize the city has a special burden to bear for many of these events. . . . That's expressly why in the post-9/11 era we are providing additional resources."
The $17.3 million the city expects to spend on this inauguration marks a sharp increase from the $8 million it incurred for Bush's first.
According to Williams's letter, the District anticipates spending $8.8 million in overtime pay for about 2,000 D.C. police officers; $2.7 million to pay 1,000-plus officers being sent by other jurisdictions across the country; $3 million to construct reviewing stands; and $2.5 million to place public works, health, transportation, fire, emergency management and business services on emergency footing.
Congressional aides said the District sought unsuccessfully last year to boost the annual security reimbursement fund from $15 million to $25 million to pay for inauguration expenses. In contrast, New York City and Boston-area lawmakers were able to obtain $50 million from Congress for each of those two jurisdictions to cover local security costs for the national political conventions.
Inauguration officials said they plan to spend $40 million on the four-day celebration, which will include fireworks, the swearing-in, a parade and nine balls. Those expenses -- which do not include security and other public services -- are being funded by private donors.
OMB and DHS spokesmen said they could not provide an estimate of what the inauguration will cost the federal government.
Federal employees who work in the District, Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax and Arlington counties, Alexandria and Falls Church are entitled to a holiday on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, the Office of Personnel Management has announced. As of June, the cost of giving federal workers in the capital area a day off was about $66 million.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) asked OPM chief Kay Coles James yesterday to dismiss federal employees at noon or 1 p.m. Jan. 19 to avoid gridlock. The Secret Service plans to close an area bordered by Constitution Avenue and E, 15th and 17th streets NW at 3:45 p.m. that day to accommodate a ceremony at the White House Ellipse, Norton's office said.
My head hurts. However, I'm sustained by remembering that I'm still going to the Counter-Inaugural thinger. Yay me!
- What Liberal Media? by Eric Alterman, which I've on my shelf for months, but finally just finished. OMG. Dude. If you haven't picked this up yet, or if it's sitting on your shelf like mine was? Stop everything you're doing, and READ THIS BOOK NOW. No, seriously. Stop reading this post and get this book read. NOW OMG.
- When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden by Bill Maher, the guy from Politically Incorrect, Real Time on HBO, and anniesj's icon. I can't believe I missed this book when it came out in November 2002. I guess I was reading Spuffy fic or something. But dude, this book. My favorite chapters: "Put a Flag on Your Car... It's Literally the Least You Can Do! and "They Hate Us Because We Don't Even Know Why They Hate Us". A lot of this book is dated, since it was released prior to the Iraq invasion, but it's still brilliant.
- The I Hate Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity. . . Reader by Clint Willis. Absolutely brilliant and so handy! This is basically a readers's digest of essays, articles, and web features picking apart all the neocon loudmouths that I despise. Now I have to get the I Hate Republicans and I Hate George W Bush Readers.
This made me happy and sparked some hope for the sanity of people in my state. From thisficklemob, via Daily Kos: BREAKING VA NEWS: Blogs force Cosgrove to withdraw HB1677! Whoo!!! That's fucking awesome. Okay, I can't believe they were going to actually pass that shit. I hate this state SO MUCH. ::smacks virginia:: NoVa seriously, seriously needs to secede. Anyways, still - Go Go Grassroots Blogging! ::raises toast::
Also, like we all suspected, Dean is running for DNC Chair. ROCK! I can't wait to see where Howard goes with this.
In ickiness, I'm continued to be shocked and appalled by Cesaer Bush's inaugural plans. And now the Bush administration is wanting the District to foot the bill for this shit? DC, which is so incredibly poor and where something like 91% of the residents voted against him? This is bullshit.
U.S. Tells D.C. to Pay Inaugural Expenses
Other Security Projects Would Lose $11.9 Million
By Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 11, 2005; Page A01
D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week's inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects.
Federal officials have told the District that it should cover the expenses by using some of the $240 million in federal homeland security grants it has received in the past three years -- money awarded to the city because it is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack.
But that grant money is earmarked for other security needs, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said in a Dec. 27 letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Williams's office released the letter yesterday.
Williams estimated that the city's costs for the inauguration will total $17.3 million, most of it related to security. City officials said they can use an unspent $5.4 million from an annual federal fund that reimburses the District for costs incurred because of its status as the capital. But that leaves $11.9 million not covered, they said.
"We want to make this the best possible event, but not at the expense of D.C. taxpayers and other homeland security priorities," said Gregory M. McCarthy, the mayor's deputy chief of staff. "This is the first time there hasn't been a direct appropriation for the inauguration."
A spokesman for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District, agreed with the mayor's stance. He called the Bush administration's position "simply not acceptable."
"It's an unfunded mandate of the most odious kind. How can the District be asked to take funds from important homeland security projects to pay for this instead?" said Davis spokesman David Marin.
The region has earmarked federal homeland security funds for such priorities as increasing hospital capacity, equipping firefighters with protective gear and building transit system command centers.
OMB spokesman Chad Kolton said no additional appropriation is needed for the inauguration.
"We think that an appropriate balance of money from [the annual reimbursement] fund and from homeland security grants is the most effective way to cover the additional cost the city incurs," Kolton said. "We recognize the city has a special burden to bear for many of these events. . . . That's expressly why in the post-9/11 era we are providing additional resources."
The $17.3 million the city expects to spend on this inauguration marks a sharp increase from the $8 million it incurred for Bush's first.
According to Williams's letter, the District anticipates spending $8.8 million in overtime pay for about 2,000 D.C. police officers; $2.7 million to pay 1,000-plus officers being sent by other jurisdictions across the country; $3 million to construct reviewing stands; and $2.5 million to place public works, health, transportation, fire, emergency management and business services on emergency footing.
Congressional aides said the District sought unsuccessfully last year to boost the annual security reimbursement fund from $15 million to $25 million to pay for inauguration expenses. In contrast, New York City and Boston-area lawmakers were able to obtain $50 million from Congress for each of those two jurisdictions to cover local security costs for the national political conventions.
Inauguration officials said they plan to spend $40 million on the four-day celebration, which will include fireworks, the swearing-in, a parade and nine balls. Those expenses -- which do not include security and other public services -- are being funded by private donors.
OMB and DHS spokesmen said they could not provide an estimate of what the inauguration will cost the federal government.
Federal employees who work in the District, Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax and Arlington counties, Alexandria and Falls Church are entitled to a holiday on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, the Office of Personnel Management has announced. As of June, the cost of giving federal workers in the capital area a day off was about $66 million.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) asked OPM chief Kay Coles James yesterday to dismiss federal employees at noon or 1 p.m. Jan. 19 to avoid gridlock. The Secret Service plans to close an area bordered by Constitution Avenue and E, 15th and 17th streets NW at 3:45 p.m. that day to accommodate a ceremony at the White House Ellipse, Norton's office said.
My head hurts. However, I'm sustained by remembering that I'm still going to the Counter-Inaugural thinger. Yay me!