← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Ragnar
Thread ID: 12535 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2004-02-26
2004-02-26 10:45 | User Profile
PDF letter slow-loads, so I put the guts of Dingell's letter below. Dingell is right about one thing: Making fun of them might be all we got left.
[url]http://www.house.gov/dingell/Manufacturing_letter_02-23-04.pdf[/url]
JOHN D. DINGELL 15TH DISTRICT, MICHIGAN RANKING MEMBER COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
To:
Dr. Gregory Mankiw Chainnan, Council of Economic Advisers Executive Office of the President Washington, DC 20502 Dear Dr. Mankiw:
I noticed in the recently released Economic Report of the President that there was some consternation in the defining of manufacturing. It could be inferred from your report that the administration is willing to recognize drink mixing, hamburger garnishing, French/freedom fry cooking, and milk shake mixing to be vital components of our manufacturing sector.
I am sure the 163,000 factory workers who have lost their jobs in Michigan will find it heartening to know that a world of opportunity awaits them in high growth manufacturing careers like spatula operator, napkin restocking, and lunch tray removal. I do have some questions of this new policy and I hope you will help me provide answers for my constituents:
Will federal student loans and Trade Adjustment Assistance grants be applied to tuition costs at Burger College
Will the administration commit to allowing the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to fund cutting edge burger research such as new nugget ingredients or keeping the hot and cold sides of burgers separate until consumption?
Will special sauce now be counted as a durable good?
Do you want fries with that?
Finally, at a speech he gave in Michigan this past September, Secretary Evans announced the creation of a new Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing. While I understand that it takes a while to find the right candidate to fill these positions, I am concerned that five months after the announcement no Assistant Secretary has yet been named. I do, however, know of a public official who would be perfect for the job. He has over thirty years of administrative and media experience, has a remarkable record of working with diverse constituencies, and is extraordinarily well qualified to understand this emerging manufacturing sector: the Hon. Mayor McCheese.
With every good wish,
JOHN D. DINGELL
2004-02-28 05:08 | User Profile
Ragnar,
Mankiw let the cat out of the bag with that one, didn't he? This is as funny as the time Clinton described taxes as "your contribution." One thing for sure, Bush learned well from Clinton when it comes to this stuff.
2004-02-28 05:52 | User Profile
Sertorius,
Laughed out loud when I read your post. Bush learned from Clinton? Yeah he did, which says a lot all by itself.
Or a Phil Ochs put it in one of his folk songs, "This country must be under some kinda curse!" :angry:
2004-02-28 15:43 | User Profile
Ragnar,
Glad you enjoyed that. I appreciated Dingell's sense of humor above. I wonder if the idiots on talk radio will try this nonsense on folks. Yes, I do think the Busheviks have learned from the Clinton administration when it comes to lying and being disingeneous. For example, Clinton makes a recess appointment with Bill Lann Lee. The Likuplicans raised hell about that one, yet, when Bush does the same thing with Pryor, it is leadership. Look at the Bush refusal to comply with the investigation into 9/11. What they are doing is no different from the Clintonites' refusal to hand over documents pertaining to their scandals and abuses of power. Then let's take a good look at their supporters. The Clinton "koolaid drinkers" used to sicken me the way they would excuse everything this worthless individual did, no matter how wrong. Contrast and compare their behavior with the Bush bullshit eaters and the excuses they come up with for Bush's equally sorry behavior. They really are two sides of the same coin. The only difference is that "their guy" is all right and the other guy is a jerk. They remind me of the rivalry between the Blues and the Greens of Byzantine fame. Listening to all these idiots on talk radio for both sides makes me wish I could dump all of them on an island in the middle of the ocean somewhere and supply both sides with a huge amount of munitions and weapons, leave them there, and come back in a couple of years to see if anyone is still alive. If so, then bomb the island into the Pacific. As Goerge Wallace would say, "there's not a dime's bit of difference between (them)."