Overheard on the Hill, Hypothetically

Source: russeljsmith via Flickr

I don’t follow politics that closely anymore, so I don’t really know how nature protection and pollution control are faring overall in the Congressional haggling over the so-called “stimulus bill.” But I do know that on the way to reaching an acceptable compromise, Senate Democrats and Republicans cut some things that you care about, including $65 million for “watershed rehabilitation.”

I bet the negotiation over that point went about like this:

Republican Budget Staffer: “We’ve got to cut this spending bill down some more, we’ve got to plan ahead, we can’t burden future generations of Americans with such huge debts.”

Democratic Budget Staffer: “But the economy is in a crisis, we’ve got to make some investments to get people back to work so they can feed their families.”

Republican Budget Staffer: “So how does this do that: $65 million for ‘watershed rehabilitation?’ What the &^%$#@! is that?”

Democratic Budget Staffer: “Ummm…I’m not sure. So tell you what, we’ll cut that, but we’ll keep the $85 million to build a bridge through that buggy swamp in my boss’s district. Deal?”

Republican Budget Staffer: “Deal. Next item…”

Words matter most in crises… when decisions get made very quickly.

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