Steny on tobacco regulation and the budget

[Tilted]

The Budget & Tobacco

[twinoaks207 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Tilted

The Budget & Tobacco

Steny Hoyer's picture should be in the dictionary beside the definition for "pork". Apologies to my southern maryland neighbors in St. Mary's but the only reason that he keeps getting re-elected is that he has been successful in protecting Pax River from major budget cuts. The prevailing attitude is something along the lines of, "it may be pork, but it's our pork". Since we do not have term limits, he has managed, by this method, to stay in office so long that he has managed to maneuver into a position of nation-wide power thus securing further entrenchment. Brilliant political strategy for our current political status and a prime example of what's wrong with how our system currently works.

Just my $.02.

(you know, I've got to stop reading the Politics thread in the morning, just ticks me off for the entire day....)

[SamSpade]

Originally Posted by twinoaks207

Steny Hoyer's picture should be in the dictionary beside the definition for "pork". Apologies to my southern maryland neighbors in St. Mary's but the only reason that he keeps getting re-elected is that he has been successful in protecting Pax River from major budget cuts. The prevailing attitude is something along the lines of, "it may be pork, but it's our pork". Since we do not have term limits, he has managed, by this method, to stay in office so long that he has managed to maneuver into a position of nation-wide power thus securing further entrenchment. Brilliant political strategy for our current political status and a prime example of what's wrong with how our system currently works.

Just my $.02.

(you know, I've got to stop reading the Politics thread in the morning, just ticks me off for the entire day....)

Unfortunately, without sounding like JPC - we don't survive in this county without Pax River. Now that it's here, the county depends on its continued existence here. The only way that we ditch Steny now is to find a way to make Pax permanently indispensable.

As long as someone has the power to take something you need away from you, they have power over you. If Pax became, say, the national headquarters of Homeland Security, it stays, and we wouldn't need Steny to "keep" it here.

[Ken King (Premo)]

Originally Posted by twinoaks207

Steny Hoyer's picture should be in the dictionary beside the definition for "pork". Apologies to my southern maryland neighbors in St. Mary's but the only reason that he keeps getting re-elected is that he has been successful in protecting Pax River from major budget cuts. The prevailing attitude is something along the lines of, "it may be pork, but it's our pork". Since we do not have term limits, he has managed, by this method, to stay in office so long that he has managed to maneuver into a position of nation-wide power thus securing further entrenchment. Brilliant political strategy for our current political status and a prime example of what's wrong with how our system currently works.

Just my $.02.

(you know, I've got to stop reading the Politics thread in the morning, just ticks me off for the entire day....)

Look at where Steny gets the votes. All he needed was PG to win. Maryland State Board of Elections

[ImnoMensa]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

Unfortunately, without sounding like JPC - we don't survive in this county without Pax River. Now that it's here, the county depends on its continued existence here. The only way that we ditch Steny now is to find a way to make Pax permanently indispensable.

As long as someone has the power to take something you need away from you, they have power over you. If Pax became, say, the national headquarters of Homeland Security, it stays, and we wouldn't need Steny to "keep" it here.

As long as someone has the power to buy your vote by supplying you with pork they have power over you. Pax River is ideally suited and positioned for the job it does and I think it would stay here withut Steny. I dont think we need him now. We certainly dont need his liberal politics in the House.

[twinoaks207 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Ken King

Look at where Steny gets the votes. All he needed was PG to win. Maryland State Board of Elections

Not quite. If he had only gotten PG votes and the others went to Collins, Collins would have beaten Steny by almost 60,000 votes, but that wasn't really the point. The point is that Steny has brought home pork to his district and that is what keeps getting him elected. Remember, too, that Pax is not just Saint Mary's County, even though it is located here. There are many contractors (and minority contractors for government quotas) whose livelihoods are directly tied into whether or not Pax River stays or goes. Those contractors also have family members who work at jobs and attend schools. They support retail establishments and restaurants, the housing industry, auto dealerships, banks and sectors of the economy. This region as a whole (and I'm talking metro DC here as there are a number of military installations in the area) is heavily dependent upon the continuance of the military establishments. (Remember all of the brouhaha over the Base Re-alignment Act? And the lobbying that went on to keep Pax and Meade open?)

I would sincerely hope that if there was another candidate out there who could guarantee the military presence would remain in this area, he/she would have a fair chance at getting elected. BUT, right now, people are too afraid to let Steny go and THAT was my point!

Oh, and BTW, I do support the military and do NOT want to see Pax closed. but, the functions done there could well have been transferred to Edwards (especially the test flight piece -- how much is done there anyway because of flight rules?), or other military installations.

[ylexot (Premo)]

Originally Posted by twinoaks207

The point is that Steny has brought home pork to his district and that is what keeps getting him elected.

What pork has Steny brought to Pax?

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by Tilted

The Budget & Tobacco

As I listen to why Steny thinks the FDA should have power over tobacco it sounds like the only benefit will be a larger Surgeon General's Warning label on a pack of cigarettes. No regulation, no 'can be dispenses by prescription only' warning. I suspect the Democrats missed their three-letter target on tobacco. They really want DEA to declare tobacco a Class 1 controlled substance and criminalize it.

No, wait! They can't do that, they'd lose billions in tax dollars each year and piss off two-thirds of their constituents.

[Ken King (Premo)]

Originally Posted by twinoaks207

Not quite. If he had only gotten PG votes and the others went to Collins, Collins would have beaten Steny by almost 60,000 votes, but that wasn't really the point. The point is that Steny has brought home pork to his district and that is what keeps getting him elected. Remember, too, that Pax is not just Saint Mary's County, even though it is located here. There are many contractors (and minority contractors for government quotas) whose livelihoods are directly tied into whether or not Pax River stays or goes. Those contractors also have family members who work at jobs and attend schools. They support retail establishments and restaurants, the housing industry, auto dealerships, banks and sectors of the economy. This region as a whole (and I'm talking metro DC here as there are a number of military installations in the area) is heavily dependent upon the continuance of the military establishments. (Remember all of the brouhaha over the Base Re-alignment Act? And the lobbying that went on to keep Pax and Meade open?)

Hoyer did not keep Pax off of the BRAC list, it was on it. What helped Pax survive was the work that was being done there that couldn’t be duplicated elsewhere. PG is the only thing that keeps Hoyer firmly rooted in the 5th District. Without his hold there he could be vulnerable.

I would sincerely hope that if there was another candidate out there who could guarantee the military presence would remain in this area, he/she would have a fair chance at getting elected. BUT, right now, people are too afraid to let Steny go and THAT was my point!

Hoyer cannot guarantee the military presence, he wants you to believe that it is all him but the fact is that the Navy or DOD could do away with it and Hoyer could do nothing to stop it.

Oh, and BTW, I do support the military and do NOT want to see Pax closed. but, the functions done there could well have been transferred to Edwards (especially the test flight piece -- how much is done there anyway because of flight rules?), or other military installations.

Yeah, Edwards would be a great location to test sea-based aircraft systems, after all they do have the beach environment. Flight rules are flight rules, they have restricted airspace and Pax has restricted airspace.

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by Ken King

Yeah, Edwards would be a great location to test sea-based aircraft systems, after all they do have the beach environment.

Well, it is one big lake bed, you know?