Susan Collins website

Senator Susan Collins is very proud of her role in stripping pandemic preparedness funds from the stimulus package.  It's not like a pandemic during an economic downturn would be a bad thing right?

lol. i was about to take a page from the global warming deniers and say 'we should do something about the pandemic, sure, but only so long as it doesn't hurt the economy.' looks like ms. collins is a step ahead of me.

i bet that link ain't gonna be up on her website very long.  ;D

It's not like a pandemic during an economic downturn would be a bad thing right?

One way of looking at it is if we lost 20% of the world's population, we'd all be on average 20% better off as the same amount of wealth has fewer people to be spread around ;)

..unless you have shares in any life insurance companies

One way of looking at it is if we lost 20% of the world's population, we'd all be on average 20% better off as the same amount of wealth has fewer people to be spread around ;)

..unless you have shares in any life insurance companies


Of course, that doesn't really work because the people who die are already poor and have no wealth to speak of. :D

Of course, that doesn't really work because the people who die are already poor and have no wealth to speak of. :D
touche!

i have to admit, i tend to find talk of pandemics et al. having a silver lining in terms of population control a little squicky to say the least.

UPDATE! it looks like it wasn't just senator collins. it was part of the GOP's general talking-points portfolio to poo-poo pandemic preparation, with no less than Karl Rove joining in in a recent WSJ editorial.

http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/04/27/rove-mocked-spending-on-flu-preparedness/

What nefarious programs were Democrats trying to insert? Among other things, Rove cited $900 million for “pandemic flu preparations.�

“There’s also $4 billion for health programs like obesity control and smoking cessation, $2 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $462 million for the Centers for Disease Control, and $900 million for pandemic flu preparations,� Rove wrote.

I think we smell tonight's Daily Show episode... or tomorrow night.  I know PORK will be "The W0RD" soon on Colbert Report as well.

i have to admit, i tend to find talk of pandemics et al. having a silver lining in terms of population control a little squicky to say the least.

It's just me feeling bilious and cynical..

Many men of course became extremely rich, but this was perfectly natural and nothing to be ashamed of, because no one was really poor - at least, no one worth speaking of

Interesting how Texas goes from talk of secession to begging for federal aid in less than three weeks time.  As for Senator Collins, I hope her constiuance remember that and cough on her.  All for one, one for all!!!

Interesting how Texas goes from talk of secession to begging for federal aid in less than three weeks time.  As for Senator Collins, I hope her constiuance remember that and cough on her.  All for one, one for all!!!


No kidding.  Texas is a bunch of ****ies.

Granted, I want them to secede so that we have more of a buffer between us and Mexico.

No kidding.  Texas is a bunch of ****ies.

Granted, I want them to secede so that we have more of a buffer between us and Mexico.
hey now. let's not go all whole hog.

kickass people from texas.

***

# Audie Murphy (1924–1971), World War II hero, actor, Medal of Honor Recipient
# Chester Nimitz (1885–1966), commander of Allied naval forces in the Pacific during World War II
# Henry Cisneros (born 1947), Mayor of San Antonio and United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
# Sandra Day O'Connor (born 1930), First woman Justice of the Supreme Court
# Ann Richards (1933–2006), governor of Texas
# Dwight Eisenhower (1890–1969), 34th President of the United States (born in Denison, but raised in Kansas)
# Ima Hogg (1882–1975), philanthropist

(^well, okay, i just like the name)

# Wes Anderson (born 1969), director Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
# Tex Avery (1908–1980), animator, cartoonist, director
# Carol Burnett (born 1933), actress, comedian, singer, writer The Carol Burnett Show
# Kate Capshaw (born 1953), actress, married to Steven Spielberg
# Joan Crawford (1908–1977), actress
# Sandy Duncan (born 1946), actress, singer
# Shelley Duvall (born 1949), actress, played Olive Oyl in the film Popeye
# Morgan Fairchild (born 1950), actress
# Farrah Fawcett (born 1947), actress
# Jamie Foxx (born 1967) Academy Award-winning actor
# Jennifer Garner (born 1972), actress, star of Alias
# Woody Harrelson (born 1961), actor
# Ethan Hawke (born 1970), actor
# Jennifer Love Hewitt (born 1979), actress
# Tobe Hooper, (born 1943), director The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist, 'Salem's Lot
# Alex Jones (born 1974), radio host, television host, film producer
# Tommy Lee Jones (born 1946), actor
# Mike Judge (born 1962), producer, animator and actor
# Kris Kristofferson (born 1936), actor, singer, songwriter
# Richard Linklater (born 1961), director Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, School of Rock, A Scanner Darkly
# Terrence Malick (born 1943), director Badlands, Days of Heaven
# Bill Paxton (born 1955), actor Titanic
# Dennis Quaid (born 1954), actor
# Randy Quaid (born 1950), actor
# Gene Roddenberry (1921–1991), Star Trek creator, writer, director, producer
# Eileen Sedgwick (1898–1991), actress in silent films
# Patrick Swayze (born 1952), actor
# Sharon Tate (1943–1969), actress
# Rip Torn (born 1931), actor, cousin of Sissy Spacek
# Peter Weller (born 1947), actor
# Forest Whitaker (born 1961), actor
# JoBeth Williams (born 1948), actress
# Robin Wright Penn (born 1966), actress, married to Sean Penn
# Renée Zellweger (born 1969), actress
# Kinky Friedman (born 1944), comedian, novelist, politician
# Bill Hicks (1961–1994), comedian
# Steve Martin (born 1945), comedian, actor
# Gene Autry (1907–1998), country music singer
# Frank Beard (born 1949), drummer in ZZ Top
# Boxcar Willie (1931–1999), country singer
# Edie Brickell (born 1966), singer – married to Paul Simon
# Christopher Cross (born 1951), singer
# Freddy Fender (1937–2006), musician
# Billy Gibbons (born 1949), guitarist in ZZ Top
# Don Henley (born 1947), musician with rock group the Eagles
# Janis Joplin (1943–1970), singer
# Scott Joplin (c. 1867 – 1917), ragtime musician and composer
# Beyoncé Knowles (born 1981), R&B singer, actress
# Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) (1888–1949), blues musician
# Lisa Loeb (born 1968), singer-songwriter, actress
# Natalie Maines (born 1974), musician
# Buddy Miles (1947–2008), rock drummer
# Willie Nelson (born 1933), country singer-songwriter
# Michael Nesmith (born 1942), singer with The Monkees
# Roy Orbison (1936–1988), singer-songwriter
# Billy Preston (1946–2006), soul musician
# Boz Scaggs (born 1944), singer-songwriter
# Jim Seals (born 1941), soft-rock musician (Seals and Crofts)
# Michelle Shocked (born 1962), singer-songwriter, musician
# Stephen Stills (born 1945), singer-songwriter Crosby, Stills & Nash
# Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954–1990), musician

.
.
.

Well, i could go on. And, last but (well, probably actually least): ME.

we got our fair share of dingbats, that's for sure. but all in all it's not a bad state.

I would include Ron Paul in there as well, but admittedly, I disagree with him on a lot.

I would include Ron Paul in there as well, but admittedly, I disagree with him on a lot.
he was born in PA. the list above all have birthright. 8)

Ok, I give.  Texas is cool.  Any state that can produce people like Rip Torn, Michael Nesmith and Tia deserves my respect.

having grown up in texas, as weird as it is to say, i kinda get how some folks half-joke about secession and still love the union and don't really see a contradiction in that. there's a feeling of uniqueness about being texan that's stronger than in many other states, much of it is unearned but not all of it. some people talk about texas being a country unto itself and it's half-jest, half kinda harmless rah-rah cheer, not necessarily to be taken too seriously.

that said, politicians talking about secession is ridiculous and irresponsible and i'm the first to condemn the waco-cult, militia-Republic of Texas types. frankly, those are folks who i don't think ever got the joke. the "there's america and then there's texas" bit has always been meant to be a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, if-you-have-to-ask-you'll-never-know kind of thing.

I lived in Texas for 7 LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG years. Trust me, it sucks!




Cat

I lived in Texas for 7 LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG years. Trust me, it sucks!




Cat
texas has been having a pretty rough time of it lately. pretty much lost the city of galveston in hurricane ike a couple years ago, and now they're one of the epicenters of this flu epidemic. kinda a crappy time to be kicking em around because of a few overly visible asswipes but whatever.

sorta like saying, 'hey, sucks about katrina but man, louisiana? what an armpit.' it's not the sort of sentiment i'd be proud of, were i you.

I...uh...cough cough cough...I sure don't need any more wasteful, sniff, sniff, hack, retch...wasteful big government spending!

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/14/sad4.gif

kickass people from texas.

***

# Tommy Lee Jones (born 1946), actor
..
# Bill Hicks (1961–1994), comedian

For those two, I can forgive Texas the rest :)

apparently she did vote for it later in a different bill...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/27/724859/-The-Truth-About-Susan-CollinsPandemic-Prevention-Funding

though why she boasts about fighting the money to only vote for it later is beyond me....