Well, Duh....

The AP is reporting that New York-area Congresscritters -- from both sides of the aisle -- are furious that Boehner let the House skip out without voting on a bill to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy:

In remarks on the House floor, [Republican Representative Peter] King called the decision ‘‘absolutely inexcusable, absolutely indefensible. We cannot just walk away from our responsibilities.’’

Well, duh.

Given the rethuglican's proclivity to shaft everyone else on earth in pursuit of their own agenda of no taxes for the rich, and their insistence on eliminating any semblance of Federal aid for anything or anyone, it should come as no surprise that the "Party of No" said "no" to relief for the devastated areas.



Another Republican had this to say:

‘‘I'm here tonight saying to myself for the first time that I'm not proud of the decision my team has made,’’ said Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. ‘‘It is the wrong decision, and I’ m going to be respectful and ask that the speaker reconsider his decision. Because it’s not about politics, it’s about human lives.’’

Well, Mikey, in your party, it is about politics. It's always about politics.

An Open Letter to DTE Energy and An Apology

I apologize for the light posting the last few days. In addition to the problems laid out previously, the spacious yet luxurious Chez 618 -- like many thousands of others -- lost power as a result of the Sunday ice storms. In fact, we lost power at 5:15 AM Monday, while yr obt svt was standing in the shower (helluva place to be with no lights!). "Mr. Preparedness", of course, did not have a flashlight in the bathroom. He does now.

Now, like most other people (virtually everyone I know, in fact), I bitch and moan mightily when I get my monthly power bill, and I tend to begrudge DTE every penny I have to send them.

But, as is always the case when the sh*t hits the fan, DTE (and the other utilities, of course) were right there in the thick of it, replacing lines before the storm abated, working 24 hours a day, calling in out-of-state and private crews, the whole nine yards.

The most common estimate I heard for power restoration was either very late Wednesday, or early Thursday.

Nope, the power was back on Tuesday evening, and had been on for a while: the sump pump had drained the basement and the house was once again warm.

So, to the folks at DTE, ATT/SBC/Ameritech/whatever it is this week, and all the rest of the hard-working utility crews:

THANK YOU.