Congressional Actions and Hubris
- Thread starter GURPS
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Clem72
Well-Known Member
Wasn't expecting to actually watch the entire thing, but I did. I think he had some good ideas, but he is overselling the benefit of "AI" quite a bit. I have no doubt we will get to the point where 80% of claims/billing/help calls can be handled by AI but it's a long ways off and won't provide the savings expected.
What his presentation really told me was that the only way we lower the deficit is to have another pandemic that takes out all the diabetics and hypertension patients.
AI is going to start consuming the low level / Tier One JOBS .... In my previous industry Tier One Help Desk Assistance
Contact Tech support AI throws the basic questions at the caller the Go through the basic trouble shooting steps ... This can be done with speech ... the issue will be people with accents, speaking ebonics, or old folks not speaking clearly ....
Did you power cycle the Computer Yet ....
But for other jobs, most any job handled by huge Indian Call Centers .... these will be the 1st to go.
Rising Heathcare Costs is why Reagan Emptied the Mental Asylums ....
the projected cost increases were rising to 100's of millions dollars IN THE 80s
Money is Fungible .... you could make the claim
ALL INCOME TAX Goes to X Program ... he just chose Medicare and Interest
These are 13 yrs Old .....
How Congress Is Forced to Adapt Post-Chevron SCOTUS Ruling
“This institution is going to have to change; how we staff committees is going to have to change, and how we work with the administrative state will have to change,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told The Epoch Times.
“We’re going to have to be much more specific in the lawmaking exercise ... we’re going to have to have committees that have more staff in order to accommodate specific legislative writing.”
He said Congress will “have to have some changes in our internal processes of what comes to the floor.”
“We don’t have the muscle memory of how to write laws specific enough ... it’s muscle memory that has to be recreated here. And it’s possible but it’s going to be hard,” Mr. McHenry said. He briefly acted as the House Speaker pro tempore in 2023 after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was stripped of the gavel.
The Supreme Court in Loper Bright opined that non-specificity in statutes is unintentional, suggesting that Congress could now intentionally write laws more specifically.
NO Congress is going to FINALLY DO THEIR FUKING JOBS
For decades Democrats intentionally made vague laws KNOWING their supporting Groups like Sierra Club and other environmental groups would sue, then the Administrative State cave and let case law be built for regulations that NEVER WOULD HAVE PASSED CONGRESS or the Administrative State would just roll out rules and regulations NOBODY asked for, beyond the Enviro Groups
House Leaders Urged to Save AM Radios in New Vehicles
According to Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., one of the leading backers of the bill, it would “[d]irect the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue a rule that requires automakers to maintain AM broadcast radio in their vehicles without a separate or additional payment, fee, or surcharge.”
The American Principles Project letter notes bipartisan support for the legislation from “256 members of the House and 62 senators.” Additionally, notable figures such as radio talk-show hosts Erick Erickson, Sean Hannity, Hugh Hewitt, and Mark Levin “have expressed their support for maintaining AM radio in vehicles.”
Automakers, meanwhile, are spending millions of dollars on lobbyists in an effort to kill the bill, the Radio+Television Business Report reported Tuesday.
The letter outlines three reasons why AM radio remains important: It’s an integral part of emergency “communications infrastructure,” it’s “the lifeline of local communities,” and it’s valuable “for political discourse.”
When electric power and cell services go down, AM radio still supplies people with “free, local, and trusted news and information,” the letter states.
House demands info from dozens of major businesses over ties to shadowy ad cartel GARM in collusion probe over free speech
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday sent letters to more than 40 major companies in its ongoing probe of a left-leaning advertising cartel that has allegedly sought to defund news outlets and platforms, including The Post.
The panel, chaired by Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), asked the companies — which included Adidas, American Express, Bayer, BP, Carhartt, Chanel, CVS, General Motors and Goldman Sachs — to preserve documents and provide information pertaining to their activities with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM).
“The Committee has learned that collusive activity is occurring within the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, of which your company is a member,” the letter began.
“In particular, the Committee has uncovered evidence of coordinated action by GARM and its member companies, including boycotts of disfavored social media platforms, podcasts, and news outlets.”
GARM, an initiative of the World Federation of Advertisers headed by radical activist Rob Rakowitz, exerts control over some 90% of global marketing spending — and uses its big-bucks leverage to go after free speech online, according to a bombshell House Judiciary Committee report released this month.
GARM “has deviated far from its original intent, and has collectively used its immense market power to demonetize voices and viewpoints the group disagrees with,” the committee’s letter said.
House Oversight Chair Threatens Subpoenas If White House Doesn’t Cough Up ‘Bidenbucks’ Plans
The powerful House Oversight Committee is threatening to force the White House to comply if it doesn’t quickly turn over the documents and information the committee requested regarding the controversial directive, according to a letter I obtained exclusively from Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., to Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young.
Executive Order 14019 on “Promoting Access to Voting” requires offices under the control of the Biden-Harris administration — from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Education — to register the millions of people with whom they interact, the many beneficiaries of the programs these agencies administer. Not only that, but the executive order suggests that the agencies partner with putatively nonpartisan third-party organizations to do so.
The White House issued the order in March 2021 with the explicit intent of registering more nonwhite voters — cohorts that tend to vote disproportionately Democrat — claiming they face “significant obstacles,” rooted in discriminatory policies, to participate in elections.
The ideas in the order largely originated inside the leftist Demos think tank, and the order seemingly includes built-in bias toward turning out likely Democrat voters under Democrat-dominated agencies. Due to those factors, plus left-wing NGOs’ support of and compliance with the order, many have likened this public-private voting initiative to the “Zuckbucks” effort of the 2020 election, dubbing the 2024 effort “Bidenbucks.”
Jordan: CISA Director Dodged Congress’s Questions About Election Censorship Four Times
The director of the agency described as the “nerve center” of the government’s censorship operations has dodged Congress’s questions about the agency’s role in censoring “election-related” speech four times, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan alleges in a letter obtained exclusively by The Federalist.
Jordan alleges that Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly has avoided answering questions from Congress about the extent to which CISA works in conjunction with federal and state governments to “censor lawful speech.”
Under Easterly’s leadership, “CISA is again reportedly working with Democratic-led states to censor election-related speech in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election,” the letter states.
@SenJohnKennedy You support Hamas, do you not?
@AAIUSA 's Maya Berry: Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support...You asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country?
America’s Politicians are Scared
Kilmer Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Ensure Congressional Continuity, Reduce Incentive for Political Violence
Currently, the Constitution mandates that House vacancies be filled by special elections. These special elections can generally take three to four months. Experts have warned that this delay would leave the House unable to function following a mass casualty event and could perhaps create an incentive for political violence if someone wanted to flip a majority.
“Our proposal solves two concerns. For one, it would ensure the continuity of the legislative branch during times of crisis. And second, because our proposal requires representatives to provide a list of designees who are qualified to serve in their place – almost assuredly from their own party – it would reduce the incentive for political violence,” said Rep. Kilmer. “The risks may be low. But if something catastrophic were to happen, the impacts would be immense. If Congress fails to enact a legitimate continuity plan, the American people will be left wondering why – in the world’s leading democracy – there was no plan to protect our most sacred democratic institutions.”
“In 2017, I was on the baseball field when a violent, gun-wielding extremist attempted to alter the balance of power in the House of Representatives by assassinating Republican Members of Congress,” said Rep. Wenstrup. “With what I witnessed that day, I believe it’s necessary that we as a body act now to ensure that should tragedy strike, God forbid, the House is able to continue the people’s work and preserve the continuity of government. That is why I’m proud to join Rep. Kilmer in supporting this effort and drive the conversation.”
“On a day like the State of the Union Address, I am reminded of how important it is that the American people have continued representation in the People’s House even during times of crisis,” said Rep. Timmons. “Although it is an uncomfortable issue to consider, we would be derelict in our duty if we did not ensure that the proper tools are in place so Congress can continue to do its job on behalf of the American people. Our amendment proposal addresses this issue to ensure the House remains strong and ready to serve in times of crisis.”
“Congress must have the capacity to immediately respond to the needs of the American people no matter the situation; and just because the United States has been fortunate enough to avoid falling headfirst into this potentially disastrous hole in the Constitution does not mean that we should assume it’s impossible,” said Rep. Cleaver. “In fact, after all that the world has witnessed in the past few years, from international conflict to COVID, I think it’s critical that we have a plan in place. The Continuity Amendment is a common sense, bipartisan proposal that disincentivizes political violence and provides a reasonable, rational way forward should a mass casualty event occur in Congress, and I’m proud to join forces with Reps. Kilmer, Timmons, and Wenstrup to begin the process of adding it to the Constitution.”
The Continuity Amendment aims to improve the continuity plan for the House, especially in the case of unexpected vacancies. The amendment proposes:
- Pre-Designated Replacements: Each newly elected representative would be required to provide a list of at least five individuals who are qualified to serve in their place in the event of their death during their term.
- Quick Replacement Process: Should a representative pass away, the governor of their state must select a replacement from the provided list within 10 days.
- Temporary Service: The chosen individual from the list would then serve as a representative temporarily until a special election can be held to elect a new member.
By improving the continuity plan for the House, the proposal aims to address two main issues:
- Continuity of the Legislative Branch: The proposal ensures that the legislative process can continue without significant disruption during times of crisis by quickly filling vacancies.
- Reducing the Incentive for Political Violence: Representatives’ replacements will likely come from their own political party, thereby reducing the incentive for targeting members of Congress to change the balance of power.
“Over the past twenty years, two different Continuity of Government Commissions have identified a key weakness in the House: vacancies are not filled for months,” said John Fortier, AEI and Executive Director, Continuity of Government Commission. “Filling House vacancies with a temporary appointment until a special election can be held ensures that the House will be representative of the people and able to act even after great emergencies.”
“Congress has put its head in the sand for too long when it comes to continuity of government, which is critical to ensuring all Americans have representation in the policymaking process,” said J.D. Rackey, Senior Policy Analyst for Structural Democracy, Bipartisan Policy Center. “Without a plan for continuity, we are leaving the political balance of power in Congress up to chance. Through this constitutional amendment, Representatives Kilmer, Timmons, Wenstrup, and Cleaver provide a workable, bipartisan solution to keep the legislative branch operating in the event of a vacancy or national crisis. Ensuring that no American is denied representation in the U.S. House of Representatives is imperative to preserving our democracy.”
“In these days of heightened political violence and hyper-partisanship, unfortunately, the threat of a mass casualty event that could flip the majority from one party to the other, is very real,” said Peter M. Weichlein, CEO, Association of Former Members of Congress. “Even more concerning is that this is not only a threat, but actually an incentive to use violence in order to change the outcome of an election. A recent poll of the membership of the Former Members of Congress Association found that almost 90% of our Members, regardless of party, considered political violence the main concern heading into the 2024 election. It is therefore extremely important that Members of Congress like Representative Kilmer and Representative Timmons are thinking through and offering solutions as we navigate the highly volatile world we live in.”
