What's Wrong With the Rest of Them?

Maybe I’m Nuts…but…Yesterday I had to take a break from my viewing of the weather channel. Frankly, it was more excitement than I could take and I was drinking decaf. To be honest, I was getting pretty worked up over a low pressure system. So anyway, I did what I always do in a situation such as this.

I decided to watch something a little more low key. I turned on CSPAN. 

OH not to worry (I know how you worry) I taped the weather channel for a few hours so…I won’t miss a thing. But, thanks for your concern.

 

Over on CSPAN (#2 on my favorites button) I was amazed by what I saw. AMAZED!!! There, on my giant screen, HD, surround sound TV (it’s strategically placed in the corner to avoid glare from the windows) as I sipped another decaf cup of Folgers best (product placement…hoping ya know) was this guy, a freshman congressman, from Florida.

What he did was (I believe) COMPLETELY without precedent in the annals of that esteemed body. Something SO radical, SO shocking…SO out there that (in my opinion) it was simply…FLABERGASTING!!!

This fellow, Allen West, stood at a microphone and DARED…DARED I say…to suggest CUTTING 10% from a portion of the budget of the Department of Defense! WHAT??? A quick check of his background told me he was an ARMY man. No…not one of those little green plastic toy things…A REAL ARMY GUY…a Lt. Col…for 22 years. GOOD GOD…HE’S ALSO A REPUBLICAN!!! 

Well, I had to gather myself. 

This guy, this ARMY guy, this REPUBLICAN wanted to cut part of the Defense Department budget?? Yep. That is exactly what he was aiming to do. The bill was his. HE sponsored it. He outlined how this cut would save 180 million over 5 years. Okay, yeah…I know…It’s not that much but…it’s the Defense Department. He of ALL people should know that our troops deserve the best. 

Then…after he spoke for a few minutes about this cut…they suspended the rules. HE said they would have 5 days to think about his proposal. Now…they were just going to VOTE on it? GOOD GRIEF. The problem with CSPAN is they have a decidedly deficient amount of commercial breaks and…I was on my fourth cup of Butternut (haven’t heard from Folgers so screw em) and…well…you know. I made an executive decision and stayed with it.

I’m not precisely sure how to explain what I saw next, but, I will endeavor to try. Those in the house, men and women alike, started…sort of…just…looking at each other (and scratching their heads as those who exhibit a lack of what-to-do-nextness will) and they voted. They voted yes. All of them. Unanimously.

So what exactly you may ask (now would be the time to ask) did this Allen West DO that was shocking, absurd, flabbergasting and other adjectives? Well…sit down and hang on to something firmly anchored (which I realize is a naval term and West was army but what has a belly button to do with anything anyway?) and take a deep breath to prepare yourselves.

Allen West exhibited common sense.

I KNOW!!!

 

Like you, I have always suspected that was completely against the rules for those elected to office but HE DID IT. West looked at the situation, did some research, came up with an idea, followed School House Rocks agenda and wrote a bill that was so common sense simple that it passed UNANIMOUSLY!!!

Now, as I said, 180 million over 5 years isn’t all that much considering we’re 14 TRILLION in debt but consider this, if you keep at it, you CAN fill a bucket with an eye dropper and THIS may well hold ramifications for other bureaucrats in other departments. The sad part is that we need a bill passed into law to get it done but if that’s what it takes than I’m all for it.

You’re wondering what he did to cut 10% out of a portion of the Department of Defense budget aren’t you?

Allen West, a freshman congressman from Florida, figured out that if the Department of Defense…printed there reports on…BOTH…sides of the page, QUIT turning those reports into hard bound glossy coffee table books and STOPPED PRINTING OUT POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS (those really do have more impact on the computer ya know) the Department of Defense could save 180 million dollars over 5 years from their printing budget!!

Seems like a reasonable idea to me.

I going to get back to my DVR of the low pressure system and contemplate how much could have been saved from the expense account had Ted Kennedy soaked only one olive instead of two in his lunch for all those years.

Or…maybe I’m nuts.

I’m Craig Andresen