Cathy McMorris Rodgers Working Hardly

This morning an article popped into my news feed. I was about how often many members of the House of Representatives miss hearings held by the committees they are members of. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, apparently has one of the worst attendance records.

I thought I'd see for myself. The Government Printing Office has the 2013-2014 hearings here. By their own admission they don't have all the hearings. They only have the hearings that are released to them by the committees. But I think what they do have tells a pretty good story.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce on which Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers sits held 87 hearings between Feb 5, 2013 and Feb 27, 2014. Cathy McMorris Rodgers attended two of those meetings. Two.

The committee held 180 hearings between Jan 26, 2011 and Dec 13, 2012. Cathy McMorris Rodgers attended 46 of them and missed out on 134.

So since January of 2011, Cathy McMorris Rodgers attended at least 48 hearings and did not attend at least 219.

That reminds me of the time when she was the chair of the House Select Committee on Earmark Reform. Not only did her committee not meet their goal of providing reforms for earmarks, her committee didn't even meet.

From the article:

Her spokesman said her duties as chairman of the House Republican Conference include leadership meetings that conflicted with most energy and commerce hearings, and that family situations kept her away from others. 

But another member of the House GOP leadership, Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., attended 79 percent of his hearings and said the work informed his role as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.

Well, there's one difference. As evidenced by her inability to speak with any depth on any topic at her town hall meetings, Cathy McMorris Rodgers does care to be informed.

Art In Spokane

 Don't judge a book by its cover. 

There's some pretty cool stuff happening this Friday night right here.

 An artsy photo.

 Would you believe Skull Church is a for reals Jesus thing?

A culturally connected Gospel message.

In other words, performance art.

 Railroad overpass art work.

Sidewalk art work.

The Trees Have Eyes

And other random stuff.

Ben Carson Visits Spokane

In today's Spokesman Review we have an article about Ben Carson speaking at a fundraiser for the Life Services ministry last night.

Rising conservative star Ben Carson did not apologize for avoiding political correctness at an event in Spokane on Friday night.
...
Annette Miller, executive director of Life Services, said the decision to book Carson as a speaker was not political, but reflected the shared values he has with the organization.

So what are some of his views?

First, he conflated same-sex marriage with pedophilia and bestiality. Of course, later on he said he was taken out of context and misunderstood.

“Marriage is between a man and a woman. No group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn’t matter what they are. They don't get to change the definition.”

And there's this nugget that indicates his lack of understanding of, or more likely his religious beliefs blinding him from recognizing, how evolution works.

"I don’t believe in evolution .... I simply don’t have enough faith to believe that something as complex as our ability to rationalize, think, and plan, and have a moral sense of what’s right and wrong, just appeared.”

I'm sure the following goes over well with his fellow conservatives.

"The entire concept of for profits for the insurance companies makes absolutely no sense. 'I deny that you need care and I will make more money.' This is totally ridiculous. The first thing we need to do is get rid of for-profit insurance companies. We have a lack of policies and we need to make the government responsible for catastrophic health care."

In 1992 Carson wrote "The most natural question is, who will pay for catastrophic health care? The answer: The government-run catastrophic health care fund. Such a fund would be supported by a mandatory contribution of 10 to 15 percent of the profits of each health insurance company, including managed care operations."

Another tidbit from the article.

Miller said the message of Carson’s latest book – that members of different political parties should listen to and be civil with one another – mirrors the message of the ministry. 

“We end up stifling thoughts, ideas and progress when we’re in a gridlock,” Miller said. “Particularly from a political perspective, that’s true in our country.”

And in the same article we have this example of Carson's ability to listen, be civil, and express a thought that isn't stifling.

No mention of a run for the presidency was made Friday, but Carson did criticize Obama for a statement the president made in 2009 that America is not a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation. Carson has made that criticism multiple times in recent weeks, including at an event in Texas, and he continued to make the point in Spokane on Friday. 

“He doesn’t get to decide that,” Carson said of Obama’s statement, to lengthy applause and cheering. “We get to decide that.”

Yep, I'm feeling the love.

Train Comin'

On my ride home from work a train was coming to the crossing on Freya by Market. The bells rang, the red lights flashed, and the barriers came down. Then the train stopped. After a minutes the barriers went back up. I was hoping to get some shots as the train went by but I had to settle for this one.

Autumn