What do you think????

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#5
This merited more than a flippant dismissal.
Sorry, but in my opinion if they were serious much more than $1.4 billion dollars would be in the bill. In California alone the Bullet Train, originally estimated to cost under $20 billion, has now ballooned in cost to over $100 billion. At the same time, California Parks doesn't have the money to fix the Gaviota Pier or the pier at Seacliff State Beach. Nationwide, at least $163 billion for Covid relief was improperly spent, “with a significant portion attributable to fraud.” Yet the National Park Service does not have the money to maintain or repair the San Francisco Muni Pier. And the list goes on and on...

Meanwhile this bill proposes to spend a paltry $1.4 billion for all fifty states. It may be better than nothing but will likely, in my opinion, do little other than give lip service to the problems (or perhaps fund pet projects for some politicians). Too bad.
 

Mahigeer

Senior Member
#7
As a General contractor, I always advised my clients that there always be delays and cost overruns.
Since no one can predict the future, no one can grantee the project finish on time and on budget.

In this case compering different projects is compering oranges to apples.

Honestly, I have not read the full text. Thus, asked the question.

I like the phrase "Keep America Fishing", thus hopefully they are for anglers.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#8
As a General contractor, I always advised my clients that there always be delays and cost overruns.
Since no one can predict the future, no one can grantee the project finish on time and on budget.

In this case compering different projects is compering oranges to apples.
Honestly, I have not read the full text. Thus, asked the question.
I like the phrase "Keep America Fishing", thus hopefully they are for anglers.
I like the phrase too but at a time when the government has been spending TRILLIONS of dollars, and seeing hundreds of billions wasted in a variety of ways, I am not going to get excited that politicians are willing to spend $1.4 billion to "Keep America Fishing."
 

Mahigeer

Senior Member
#9
I think the glass is half full in this case.

$1.4 Billion is better than nothing.

A side note: Yours truly and I would guess most people cannot vision how much is one billion.
I saw this explanation of how big a billion is, and if it is true, it is a good way to remember it.

If we use seconds instead of $, ---one million is (11) days. On the other hand, one billion is (34) years. Let me repeat, --34 years.
 

Mahigeer

Senior Member
#10
Just received this email.


Dear Nahid,

Thank you for writing to share your support for the “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” (S. 2372). I am a cosponsor of this bill, and I appreciate hearing from you.

Introduced by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), S. 2372 would invest in conservation efforts to support the long-term health of fish and wildlife habitats across the nation. As you noted in your letter, this bill aims to help at-risk wildlife before they need the more costly and restrictive measures required by the Endangered Species Act (Public Law 93–205), while also helping recover those species already listed as threatened or endangered. I proudly voted to pass the “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” out of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on April 7, 2022, and the bill is now awaiting consideration by the full Senate.

I share your concern for protecting wildlife habitats and endangered species. As a member of the Senate EPW Committee, which has jurisdiction over implementation of the Endangered Species Act, please know that I will continue to support this and other legislation to protect endangered species.

Once again, thank you for writing. Should you have any other questions or comments, please call my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3553 or visit my website at padilla.senate.gov. You can also follow me on Facebook, and Twitter, and you can sign up for my email newsletter at padilla.senate.gov/newsletter.

Sincerely,

Alex Padilla
United States Senator
 

Mahigeer

Senior Member
#11
One more response:


Dear Hashem:

Thank you for writing to me about wildlife protections. I appreciate the time you took to write, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.

I share your support for the “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” (S. 2372), which Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced on July 15, 2021, and would provide funding for wildlife and plant species conservation and recovery efforts. On April 7, 2022, S. 2372 was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The bill now awaits consideration by the full Senate but has not yet been scheduled for a vote.

Please know that I share your belief that the United States has a responsibility to preserve wildlife and their habitat, and to protect species from extinction. California is home to three dozen national wildlife refuges and I regularly hear from Californians about the importance of protecting the land and the animals that depend on it. I am proud to have led the largest public lands protection effort in the lower 48 states by authoring the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 and the California Desert Protection and Recreation Act of 2019. Together, these laws protect nearly 8 million acres of California wilderness and established Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve.

You may also be interested to know that the Great American Outdoors Act, which was enacted in 2020, permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and helps address the backlog of maintenance repairs needed on our federal lands. You can read more about this legislation and its benefits here: https://sen.gov/1KYQ. Further, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which has jurisdiction over federal spending for land management, I work each year to secure funding for wildlife and habitat conservation efforts.

Please know I will keep your support for the “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” in mind as I continue to work with my Senate colleagues and the Biden Administration to conserve land and wildlife within the United States.

Once again, thank you for writing. Should you have any other questions or comments, please call my Washington, D.C., office at (202) 224-3841 or visit my website at feinstein.senate.gov. You can also follow me online at YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Best regards.
Sincerely yours,


Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#12
Meaningless politician form letters (written by staffers) that try to convince you that they actually care about the issues and/or that the act is actually doing what it is supposed to do. Doesn't even matter which politician you contact.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#13
No, they are not meaningless. Form letters, sure--there are over 40 million Californians--but the truth is the Senators (or their aides) still got back to Mahigeer.

Which means they were doing their jobs.

It is one thing to criticize elected officials for not doing their jobs, and something else again for getting on their cases for actually performing their duties. It is perverse.

THIS MUST STOP.

The nebulous buzzword "politicians" is a convenient term bandied about by people who require scapegoats to avoid dealing with change and uncertainty.

Was it not Bob Dylan who sang "The times they are a changing?"

It's not the politicians. It's the plutocrats. They are the most dangerous people on Earth. Their power and money afford them a bully pulpit from which they can--and do--manipulate government and society. They prey on uncertainty and fear, and have been instrumental in dividing our Republic. It is scary to think how successful they've become in convincing some people that representative government is evil and that the Constitution is for suckers who insist on the rule of law.

Perdition to partisan factions and fascism.
Unfortunately there isn't much evidence that the changing times are seeing much improvement. The plutocrats control most politicians as well as most of the legislation that is introduced. I've served on too many boards and dealt with too many government officials to have much faith in government solving problems. Same with politicians, for most it's all about power and money and though I once opposed term limits, I think the time for them is overdue. I wish it weren't true and that I could have more faith in government but there's too much evidence to the contrary and I think you know that.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#14
I hate to be the last person on the thread and be accused of censorship but I think we should move on to strictly fishing topics.
 
#15
"Keep America Fishing" is the subject of the post. If that is not a fishing title, I do not know what would be.

I agree that we should move on.