Very hot Sunday afternoon, it didn't stop people from coming out as it was the biggest crowd I've ever seen out for SSOM. I wonder if the energy in OTR this summer has a lot to do with it. Plus the fact there were a number of choirs performing, I'm sure they pulled people who normally wouldn't have gone. So the name of the game was beating the heat for Sunday.
comments?
Fascinating to me, the meme the past week or so, repeated by some politicians and others protecting the status quo is that bloggers have no life. News to me, how does one blog with nothing to blog about?
With that said, I escaped from the basement on Saturday night and hit a cookout, first one in awhile, what is it about BBQ anyhow?
The Penny's and Arnold's graciously hosted a hungry crowd, I'll tell you what, you can never have enough friends who are good cooks.
What do we love about the Northside?
They know how to throw a party and all the characters come out.
Screw the safe part, if you aren't risking your life how much fun can you really be having?
comments?
Last week Steve Chabot U.S. Rep. (R-Ohio) added an amendment to the annual appropriations bill to prohibit federal spending on the Cincinnati streetcar. Most news organizations begin with something like News 5's headline "Chabot amendment would strip streetcar of funds". Misleading and lazy journalism.
Here is what I found out from a D.C transportation wonk: Most people and news services, at least in Cincinnati, are confusing two separate bills. One is the transportation bill and the other is the appropriations bill, which funds the transportation department. Chabot added his amendment to the appropriations bill and he would need to keep inserting it into every appropriations bill in the future.
What the full Congress did pass is a new surface transportation authorization bill, which is wholly different from an annual appropriations bill. Authorizations are multi-year bills (historically 5, though this one is only 2 thanks to everybody's unwillingness to generate any more revenue) which give DOT and its agencies authority to operate, set regulations and spend money. Appropriations bills are annual and simply set how much money an agency gets for that year and might include some restrictions for how that year's money can be spent.
So, what my policy wonk buddy told me is,
... the Senate has not passed a parallel appropriations bill, meaning that the House bill and its Cincy Streetcar amendment is currently meaningless."He added,
"If, somehow, it (Chabot's amendment) does make it in, as I understand it, Obama has threatened to veto because DOT, FTA, LaHood & Obama admin have already invested political and financial capital in the project. I don't think there's a whole lot to worry about. There's a lot of confusion between the re-authorization and appropriations bills which Cincy media has fallen prey to and Chabot is taking advantage of it to burnish his anti rail credentials for November."
