GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN? WHAT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JAN. 22, 2018) — Government shutdown? What government shutdown? THE PLANET asks with a straight face, did you notice? If not for 24/7 cable “news” and the dimwad of social media, you wouldn’t have noticed a blink, unless of course you were one of the highly productive, irreplaceable federal employees deemed “not essential” or a dreamer living off Uncle Sam.
One could only pray for a similar situation in Pittsfield come budget time. The mayor’s sends her typical, irresponsible spending splurge to the city council, only this time the council has enough votes to throw it face in her face, as it did on the toters. A 1/12th budget fails to pass, and city government furloughs without pay all “non-essential” workers. That would send everybody home except Kathy “Lady Boots” Yon, school committee chair, and Supt. JIV. Why would they be necessary? Someone has to be around to pick the long suavity out of their noses and butts. In Pittsfield, such idiocy is essential. And how would they spend their days? LB would gum her lipstick and JIV would groom his flask. Her wrinkles, his thinning pate.
The government shutdown, which won’t last more than a mental balance, proves the fundamental flaw in Article IV of the Constitution — not the parts about full faith and credit, privileges and immunities, or admission of new states to the Union. Rather, it reveals the enormous blunder of a “republican form of government.” It only works with an active, involved, and well-informed citizenry. Otherwise it degenerates into yet another manifestation of oligarchy or totalitarianism.
Under the republican form, We The People have no direct power, since the levers to control the federal robot arms are given to the people’s alleged “representatives.” Actually, the form worked decently until WWII and its aftermath. At that point, the growth curve of the federal government and the installation of the eventual police state’s formation (CIA, NSA, FBI and other abominations of the alphabet) combined to make “representative” power non-existent. In the 70+ years since, we can witness the perfect storm of Gigantic Government ballooning to tidal proportions with the aid of High Technology.
THE PLANET might at this point suggest an alternative, except that such petals of light would be completely misunderstood. We have been brainwashed to such an extent that there could be no reasonable discussion, for example, of fascism, which is before it is anything else an economic system and not a political much less governmental philosophy, one, if deeply understood and perfectly applied, cherry picks the best from capitalism’s profit motive (which somewhat checks the greed delimiters) and collectivism’s theoretical monetary equanimity. As we said, we won’t to that.
What shall we do? We shall observe the jest of Dems blaming Repubs and vice versa … And we DO mean “vice.” Surely the timing of the shutdown on President Trump’s first anniversary is no coincidence. Call it perception without the required steady gaze. We give thanks at Delphi for how the shutdown reveals the cowardly evil in the actions of all politicians. THE PLANET dares not speak on what’s inside the hearts of others. Actions be all.
It is fitting to note that the aforementioned Constitution has been amended 27 times. The first gave us the Bill of Rights. The 27th gave Congress the power to hike their own pay. That shall stand as our summation of American history.
Now if we can only get the trains to run on time.
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“If there was a trace of beauty in anything, she saw it” — Ezra Pound.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The Usual Disclaimer.
I agree that it is interesting that the government shutdown occurred on Trumps anniversary. Especially since he hammers at us what a great deal maker he is. And also since he is on video tape saying that a government shutdown is the PRESIDENT S fault. Well, at least when Obama was president.
He is a Stable Genius! ( rolls eyes)
Of course the only solution to the government mess is that we need a woman president, but will she be a conservative woman or a democratic or independent woman? We have seen how the liberal media and Democrats have treated conservative women candidates in the past. Will they treat conservative women candidates respectfully now that “woman power” is the new strategy by Democrats to win the white house in 2020?
Kristen Bell made fun of Melania Trump last night at the SAG awards for no progress on cyber bullying. I thought as women we are all in this together and we stick up for each other? Disparaging a woman and her cause seems mean and totally against the new “sisterhood” platform adopted by the Progressives.
Good point Pat. This poor woman has her hands full trying to keep track of her cheating husband never mind fullfilling what she said was her cause. Somethings tells me this poor girl cries herself to sleep every single night. She always looks SO unhappy except for the occasional forced smile for the cameras.
If any woman needs this METOO movement it is her. It was designed for woman like her who has to suffer in silence.
Melania seems like a very happy woman to me Dusty. Now Hillary on the other hand….give me a break. Democratic women wanted everyone to believe that Hillary and Bill were the picture of domestic bliss and BELONGED in the White House again despite Bill’s shady past with women. How can Progressives keep fooling themselves and other people?
Hollywood has jumped on the METOO bandwagon and that should scare everyone. All women deserve to be treated fairly by everyone including the liberal media and Democrats. Notice I said ALL women.
Yes Pat, Kristen made fun of Melania and Valenti made fun of Kathy Yon. To embrace this blog is to embrace name calling. Nothing wrong with it if you like that sort of thing and can’t find other ways to disparage people who think differently than you.
Fair point, TM. Satire is hot, and him bite hard.
Yon made the decision to run for office. Mrs. Trump did not.puts them in different categories.
I agree. Melania is not a politician. What about the 12 year old Trump child who has also been made fun of by Progressives? Shameless.
yes woman should run the world ! if so, then I’m not sure what I’m gonna do when I need my garage wired or oil changed but alas I digress….
Is Former pedophile Dr.Larry Nasar the abuser of woman from the Olympics any different than Donald J Trump? As far as opportunity?
No definitely not like Donald Trump, but Larry sure sounds a lot like Bill Clinton. Bill had plenty of opportunity in the White House.
Progressives have only jumped on the “woman power” bandwagon because of politics. If they had true concern about women they should have voiced it when Hillary was their candidate. They wouldn’t have pushed all the Clinton dirty laundry under the rug when it comes to women.
I do believe the stable genius bragged about being able to walk into the TEENAGE miss america pageant dressing room because it was “his pageant”. It is only fair right Pat?
And Hillary by the way is not president and neither is Bill. You just come across as so desperate defending Trump when you have to keep deflecting to other people. Is that all you got? Hillary did it. Bill did it. Obama did it? So weak.
Not desperate Dusty. I don’t care who is running, but I do want SMALL GOVERNMENT.
Listening to the radio TBR. Morning with k man disciple Smiles,interviewing the King, said something very telling. Krol would rather take free cash money to pay for teachers and paraprofessionals, than spend on toters. So let the games begin, the hell with the roads this morning, the patch ain’t working anyway. Oh, Jake just stated the schools are working with skeleton crews?
Jake is saying our teachers are making 10g less than some cities?
What’s your point?
Jake should tell them to move to the cities that pay more if it is all about the money for them. And I can help him pack his bags if he should choose to join them. And as an added bonus I will give him and Yon and the rest of the school committee a ride to the nearest jump off point.
Let me know. It must be awful to think about money all the time.
DUSTY
According to the state department of education figures, average pay for a Pittsfield teacher pushes $70,000 a year. Add 20% or so for bennies. Apparently, $80K+ a year isn’t enough for a 6-month work year.
So sad. Makes ya wanna start a gofundme campaign for them. Poor things.
Those cities also don’t have faking districts and higher costs of living.
The school parking lots look like luxury car lots
Failing
The host on TBR is now an official disciple as Jake is telling her how the teachers are underpaid, and that the hosts priority is to enable the directive ( message) that the Stooge Show will be the platform for increases for the School teachers and Administrators, otherwise you,miss Host,will be left at the Altar. My road is bad today, real bad!!!
Mayor Tyer better fixate on the roads in Pittsfield, and forget the toters. These roads are unacceptable and its only January.
Here is a surprise. In the Jan 13 version of a local newspaper the Berk Eagle wrote (or co-wrote) an Opinion piece chastising the city council for not jumping in with both feet on the toters. They also sarcastically suggested that the residents who are complaining don’t know a good thing when they see it.
So who, I wonder, wrote this piece of shit. The new Berkshire Eagle is the same as the old Berkshire Eagle in that it is apparently guided by city hall on what they write. So where as I do think the new paper is better than the old paper I will still never pay money for it as it is definitely not my friend but rather a tool of the political network whose goal seems to be to relieve people of their money either through taxes, fees or fines.
Anyone of those hacks would or could have written it. Linda Clairmont demands it
I hope Planet Valenti writes a column about Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels.
I hope he also writes about Donald Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns.
I hope he also writes about Donald Trump’s associates pleading guilty or being indicted on federal charges relating to the Russia investigation.
I hope he also writes about the 20 women accusing Donald Trump of sexual misconduct.
I hope he also writes about Donald Trump’s 4 business bankruptcy filings.
I hope he also writes about Donald Trump openly cheating on his first 2 wives, and now the Stormy Daniels revelation that he may have cheated on his third and current wife.
I hope he also writes about Donald Trump political connections to white nationalism, including the alt-right’s Stephen Bannon and several other staffers.
– Jonathan Melle
“hope that springs eternal, within the human breast”
we dont care what you think. Get a job and leave us alone
JM doesn’t have to work. He lives on the public dole. When asked about it, he will huff and puff about being a disabled veteran, etc. Except he never made it through training. He’s just plain nuts.
I made it through all of my military training! I served Honorably. Please get your facts straight.
I guess I could have sold dope like Luciforo.
I guess I could collect a big ass public salary or pension like all of the political hacks like Smitty Pignatelli, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, et al.
– Jonathan Melle
You’ve heard of the Navy Seals? Jonathan was an Army Walrus.
Lord knows what Bouvier was.
Give the roads a couple of days of rain and watch out,flooding is the worst thing Turocy will ever see, and he’s already behind the eight ball.
Lenox ave still has that mess a out 200 yards from wahconahst. That thing has been bad for 30 years and thought the city addressed it? Pecks and Springside should be a beauty today.Stay off Merrill period.
Stay off Dalton Ave. (up to Plastics). What a mess and we have until Spring. I am convinced they either don’t know how to repair roads or they are not using the right stuff.
Dalton Ave from Plastics up to the Allendale Shopping Center (the state portion) is just fine and every year is just fine. Amazing how the “state” can do the job right and our city can’t!
Massachusetts has more money than Pittsfield. In the meantime, slow down, stay off your cell phone while driving and watch the road.
Also, don’t drive at night if you don’t have to do so. No way you can see all of the potholes.
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle
PITTSFIELD — Residents will see their sewer bills rise, officials say, as the city performs $74 million in wastewater treatment upgrades required by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Finance Director Matt Kerwood said he is working with consultants Tighe & Bond to evaluate the project’s impact on city rates.
“We will have to raise rates to pay for these improvements,” said Public Services Commissioner David Turocy, adding that the city’s wastewater system is supported entirely by ratepayers and is separate from the city’s general fund budget. “These new rates have not been set yet but will be through the upcoming budget process.”
Pittsfield you are about to be given a royal screwing by consultants. Please note that consultant begins with CON.
con man
: a person who tricks other people in order to get their money : con artist
Consultants truly are con artists. The more money they can get a city to spend the bigger their cut. They’re not looking out for the taxpayers.
Let me save Eddie “Matt Kerwood” Munster some taxpayer time and money…the fees will rise.
If they need $74 million more plus interest on the loans I would say the rates will go up HUGE!! Right Matty? and the consultant wants a big bite as well so add that in.
Is the water bill going up again! Just wejt up not to long ago
Sewer-water,roads,street lights,payment on school-home assessments up,toters,crime,shot sputter,Covanta 500g, Beacon TIF,Kiosk debacle, PEDA floundering,Museum Art Scam, School Contracts,dwindling free cash,police station,sidewalks, line painting, to many traffic lights.
If the mayor made a few sound decisions she could assure re-election. But she’ll probably make the wrong decision with the sewage plant. A good part of the problem is that the chemicals at the drinking water plant are the wrong type and if they do use the correct ones it’s the wrong amount. They put stuff in at one end that they have to take out at the other end and they wonder what’s wrong.
No one drinks water anyway,filtered or bottle, how clean does it need be to flush a toilet?
Tyer wants to spend 75 million to clean what’s coming out of the sewage treatment plant. She and Turocy and much of the City Council are being snookered by the con artist consultants.
How long did it take Turocy to teach Kerwood and Tyer everything he knows about water treatment? Probably about three seconds. I wonder what kind of bull crap show Kleinfelder will put on? Tyer has already bought it hook line and sinker. Let’s hope the City Council grows some brains but don’t think Krol will be part of any brain growth. He’s worried about plastic bags being our biggest problem.
Kleinfelder? More like Konfelder or Klownfelder. And you are correct. Tyer has bought into it.
There is NO COLLUSION and everyone knows that there is NO COLLUSION so we need to move on and stop talking about COLLUSION.
Pittsfield takes of nothing as they dont budget in maintaince, you dont even hear them ask how will we maintain it.Yon will never ask how is the new Taconic 125 million dollars school being maintained.It needs min of 13 to 15 custodians and McCandless budgets for 6.The entire city buildings have only 1 heating person and it needs at least 4 HVtecks just to get it back to functioning.
If you build it you needs to maintain it.This falls on Yon,Behnke,Mccandless as Curtis hates maintaince people.
TSC, I do agree with you on that one.
Grounds maintaince is 100% better after Strcuzzi left,he spent most of his day at Dunkin Donuts telling them how to make donuts on Overtime…..Pittsfield has a history of hiring the worst people they can get.
Mayor Tyer was on Good Morning America (PCTV) this AM and was adamant that they would NOT go out to bid on the toters.
I have a question for all you CC members who read this.
Do you agree with the mayor?
What I would like to know is – who in the city admin has ties to Republic, in that the Mayor wants to throw them this big business without putting it out to bid?
no collusion…no complicity..no kickbacks
The real news that only a few are talking about is this FISA warrant stuff.
As it looks now, here’s what happened.
1. Mrs. Clinton paid someone to write the phony Russian dossier on Trump (the one with the hookers, etc.)
2. That phony dossier was used to obtain a FISA warrant to SPY on the Trump campaign because of supposed collusion with Russia to influence the election.
3. The warrant thus obtained was used to bug Trump Tower and SPY on the Trump campaign.
4. Trump moved his campaign headquarters to Bedminster, NJ, the day after he found out about this.
If this is true, it’ll dwarf Watergate. A presidential candidate using the federal government to spy on the other candidate . . .
It should also end the Mueller witch hunt and the whole Russia meme concocted by sore loser Clintonistas.
Wow!! Thanks for the heads up Ed.
and remember…there was NO COLLUSION. Make sure the people know about that too. No collusion, no porn stars and no money laundering
and Popapolous was a coffee boy
That’s right, Dusty! Now you get it – there was NO collusion!
Oh good. How about obstruction of justice? That still in the works?
CNN, MSNBC, etc. don’t have time to report on this as they spend 24 hours a day on Russia.
Thanks for posting this summary of Obamagate, Ed! Hannity is doing a bang up job of reporting on this story. Hopefully heads will roll, felonies galore.
All I can say is THANK GOD FOR THE NEW MEDIA !!
Stay in that Fox news Hannity tunnel that keeps the light out. It is safer in there.
You are a fool to say that.
Hannity keeps the light on. Your lights are obviously very dim.
It sure sounds like our FBI and DOJ need to be investigated. They lost all of these emails between the lovers during the time when they were talking about doing something to hurt President Trump? It just doesn’t ring true.
Pot holes and line painting are in terrible neglect this year,be careful on Pecks after the fire station going towards Wahconah St. got windshield splashed, and probably on the Big Y there is usally a Lake in the road for splash, is that what a splash pad is? Did I hear the t v host in the Morning interviewing Chris Connell a hint of collusion on behalf of the current and future tote wanna be haulers?I think when the current hauler was addressed by Connell on the costs and tax write offs, they took a step back, we could have been paying for the damn upgrades, what a city? Good Job Councilor Connell ! Still disagree on the Covanta 500 plus g that was some bullshit there.
On the otters: why not put out a Reguest for Proposal where the vendor buys the toters and trucks, and includes trash collection. Then you can compare more accurately vs present system’s cost.
Open existing trash collection to new bids as well.
there is never collusion between contractors or vendors and govt officials in Pittsfield. No kickbacks or palm greasing either. No complicity or back scratching..all is pure as the driven snow. Whatever that is.
No toters period, you’re second part,on bid for trash. NExt to crabbing on the Bering sea! this is a dangerous er job than most. The Ward councilor for the Lenox Ave Avalanche had a crew up there about an hour ago, good job. They must read the Planet. It should be interesting on the Toter application tonight or not.
With the 85-15 split on insurance for City Employees. Time to examine that, sacrifice should and must be made. Taxes a d Fees keep going up, time to reign them in. maybe 60 or 65 -forty. It’s time!
How can you tell people to separate aluminum glass and plastic
when buildings of blight continue to breed in the city, for example, Hess Forest,KFC,Old Petricca and Burger King, West Housy Firewood et al. PEDA site, .
Just an addition to Ed Murrow’s comments above. This is an article about the FBI Secret Society.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/page-strzok-referenced-fbi-secret-society-met-day-election/
Could be some grades tonight,, guest grading, anyone? Council and Mayor. Why is Marchetti and Dahoney so glum on the water sewer project formalities. Attorney doesn’t know who represents the City on this? he doesn’t so I guess he doesn’t care. Good questions Mazzeo.
Im worried about Hannity,he knows whats going down and he cant report on the investigation
Trump McConnell say the people wanted Trump,that’s why we should ok Trumps agenda. Last I heard during the campaign was the WALL would be paid for by Mexico,oooohhhhh and they’re going to pay for it. NOT. No Wall.
Mexico is already paying for their wall on their southern border to Central America, then seem to have plenty of money to keep out people from countries they don’t want in Mexico.
Wake up…borders and language matter.
What are you talking about? Hannity is leading the charge.
He should be calling for an investigation of Treason against the Clinton’s and corrupt FBI and DoJ officials who were attempting to take down an elected president by using the federal government intelligence apparatus.
Never listen to Hackiity.