Maybe They Could Devote The Weekend To Global Warming Climate Change

William Kristol thinks the health care debate scheduled for this weekend should be called on account of snow:

There's a really big snowstorm coming to D.C.tonight. It would be unsafe to ask all the staffers and Hill employees who'd be needed at the Capitol if Congress stays open all hours this weekend, as Harry Reid intends, to drive to and from work--especially since many will have to do so at night, and they won't be well-rested. So from the point of view of public safety and personal well-being, Ben Nelson can do everyone a favor, announce today he won't vote for cloture, and let everyone stay home this weekend.

Furthermore, Harry Reid is maniacally insisting on a Christmas Eve vote on a bill whose final text no one has seen yet. So from a good government point of view, Nelson can say that he feels he has to be against cloture.

There is a clear need for "End the snow job" quips.

Let's go to the National Weather Service advisory:

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM
EST SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT.

* PRECIP TYPE...SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...HEAVY SNOW WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES
THROUGH SUNSET SATURDAY. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE...
MAINLY IN OR NEAR SOUTHERN MARYLAND. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS
EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING...SNOW WILL BEGIN LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING.

* TEMPERATURES...UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S THROUGH THE EVENT IN THE
BALTIMORE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA...MID TO UPPER 20S ACROSS
WESTERN MARYLAND.

* WINDS...10 TO 20 MPH THROUGH THE EVENT...WITH GUSTS OF 25 TO
30 MPH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW...
SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Most cities would consider that to be a lot of snow.

Comments

[pagar]

"ask all the staffers" The best thing for America would be to sent all the Staffers home permanently. Maybe than we would get some bills that were not dreamed up by staffers and/or lobbyists.
All House members from the same state could share one staffer. Both Senators from the same state could share one staffer. Billions would be saved just from this one common sense change.

[Neo]

The temperature at this extreme solar minimum is likely a few degrees colder than in an average minimum, but that small change can cause a large change in the density of the layer.

This same cooling effect is expected to happen (somewhat counterintuitively) as carbon dioxide concentrations increase from emissions at Earth's surface. So understanding the natural variability of this layer is important to detecting any changes from carbon dioxide increases. LUN

[Rob Crawford]

The best thing for America would be to sent all the Staffers home permanently.

If by "home" you mean "to their makers", I'm all for it. If you mean simply to send them to their living places in the DC 'burbs, sorry, can't go along with that. That leaves them too close to the site of their crimes.

[interested]

"Neither rain nor snow, nor sleet nor dark of night shall stay these Senators from the swift completion of their appointed cloture."

[pagar]

"mean simply to send them to their living places in the DC 'burbs,"

No, I meant home to where ever they came from before they became involved in the Washington DC fraud area.

[Rob Crawford]

No, I meant home to where ever they came from before they became involved in the Washington DC fraud area.

I doubt any of them have done anything but cycle between Congressional staff and lobbyists.

[Frau Hoffnung]

pagar - Reminds me of going on Dec. 11 with Caro & Co to the D.C. office of Orrin Hatch. The young flak-catcher did his best, whether intentionally or not, to tick off our group of mature JOMers listening to Caro patiently and politely ask her serious questions. At the end of the fruitless encounter, Caro asked what part of Utah the aide was from. He answered, "South Utah," and when pressed, he told us, "Palm Springs."

[Jane]

Ahh Frau - those were the days!

[glasater]

Tapper is Tweeting this interesting body language from Nopenhagen:

Man up Zero

[clarice]

It will be impossible to meet this weekend if the predicted snowstorm materializes. DC is completely locked down when this happens.

Bismarck was right,"God looks after children, drunks and the United States of America".

[pagar]

From the glasater post at 01:45pm.

Is this language typically seen on these photos?

"that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

[glasater]

Pagar--

The photographer may be want "some cover"--or whomever tracked down that photo/image and uploaded it to his flickr page wants a qualifier/deniablility.
I thought it was an interesting statement to include also..

[Sonny Elliot]

(CBS/ AP) Updated at 3:59 p.m. EST

The U.S. reached a "meaningful agreement" with China, India and South Africa at the U.N. Climate Summit in Copenhagen, a senior White House official said.

[Rick Ballard]

The UK Times has already dropped the "meaningful agreement" gargle and notes that

Key safeguards on climate change were sacrificed today in a desperate attempt by world leaders to achieve a compromise at the Copenhagen summit.

Gordon Brown and some other leaders prepared to stay overnight as the final stages of the negotiations were prolonged by a dispute between the US and China over remarks made by President Obama.

But reports this evening that President Medvedev of Russia had already left the talks while Japan’s Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, was planning to leave later last night heightened the feeling that time was running out for a deal.

A commitment to turning the “Copenhagen Accord” into a legally binding treaty within a year was deleted from a draft of the text leaked tonight.

This is as big a success as the President's efforts to win the games for Chicago - maybe even bigger.

[clarice]

I think this in the LAT and Revkin's megaphoning are all BS:

Tentative deal reached in Copenhagen on climate change curbs

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-obama-climate19-2009dec19,0,2331799.story

The deal includes specific targets for rich nations to reduce the emissions scientists blame for global warming; for emerging powers to reduce them as a share of their economies; a transparency provision that will subject China, India and other fast-developing nations to international review of their self-reported progress on emissions limits; and a commitment by wealthy nations to marshal $100 billion a year in climate aid for poor nations by 2020.

And it is the culmination of a full-court press by the Americans to woo China, including dispatching fully half of the U.S. negotiators to focus on the Chinese, and a sharp rejoinder from Obama in a speech this morning to the leaders gathered here.

The president promised that the United States would keep its pledge to reduce emissions — in the range of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 — “no matter what happens in Copenhagen.”

(And Obama's promise is his bond..right..???right???)

[Rick Ballard]

Anticipated White House Response:

The President is breathlessly awaiting the arrival of the strong letter promised by Chairman Wen Jia Bao after his very short reply to the President's entreaties. White House staff interpret the promise of the letter as indicating a softening in China's utter rejection recalcitrant stance.

[clarice]

From The Hill:
"Reid to unveil final offer on healthcare bill on Saturday morning
By Alexander Bolton - 12/18/09 01:16 PM ET
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will make his final offer on healthcare legislation on Saturday morning, unveiling a highly-anticipated amendment to the Senate healthcare bill.

Reid will unveil his amendment with a cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shortly after the Senate votes at around 7:30 Saturday morning to clear a Defense spending bill.

“That’s the plan, soon after that vote because we want to file cloture on that quickly,” said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

Reid’s amendment will include all the changes he has proposed to secure the votes of 60 Democratic senators for the healthcare bill. The amendment may include a compromise on abortion language, a sticking point for centrist Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

Durbin said it was necessary to unveil Reid’s amendment and file a motion to cut of a GOP filibuster on Saturday morning to set up a preliminary vote at 1 a.m. Monday.

Lawmakers must vote early Monday to cut off debate on Reid’s amendment if they are to stick to a timeline that would set a final vote on the healthcare bill after 7 pm on Christmas Eve.

Republicans may demand that Senate clerks read aloud Reid’s amendment, which could total several hundred pages. But Democrats say a reading could be completed within the same day and would not disrupt the schedule."

[centralcal]

I saw that Hill piece, too, Clarice, before leaving the office today.

Reid may be successful - I just don't know - but my Christmas prayer is that he (and others I will not list at the moment) never hold public office again.

Quite a few folks in my area of California (which is heavily Armenian) are financially supporting Danny Tarkanian. I honestly don't care who defeats him in Nevada, but I do think he is toast.

[narciso]

I did pick up on another blog, well C4P, on a message board, last night, a letter from a doctor that shows the utter catastrophe that this bill is, I don't think I can hyperlink
it, but I can excerpt fragments of it.

[clarice]

Go to it if you want to--narciso.

[narciso]

These are the excerpts in the three posts, of a letter from Dr. Stephen Fraser of Indianapolis, who commented on HR 3200, in the LUN

[clarice]

AOS:
"Lieberman skips town!

With a major winter storm moving in, Senate staff is setting up cots in Hill offices to spend the night in preparation for an important procedural vote early Saturday morning that all 60 Democrats are likely needed for — except TPMDC has confirmed that Sen. Joe Lieberman has beat it back to Connecticut for the Sabbath."

[caro]

Frau, thanks for reminding me that I need to get to the the local Hatch office in person to vent. I don't think I have been to the city (Salt Lake) since I got back. Jean has shown me up with her engagement. We had a good and memorable time, didn't we?