Thank goodness it is over

Congress is no longer is session. This is the shortest Congressional session in recent history. It is over...

One of the last things they did needs some discussion...

They passed a Port Security Bill. This in itself is something I expected them to do. I have not read it; however, I imagine it will not be too damaging to my country...

They tried to add several billion dollars of unrelated mass transit spending and subsidies to the bill at the last minute; this was luckily defeated. Many Democrats and some Republicans were responsible for this attempt to add a bunch of wasteful spending to an unrelated bill...

Unfortunately, they DID add a section that will even further restrict online gambling... This was done by The Republicans; however, The Democrats caved in very quickly.

What does Online Gambling have to do with Port Security you ask?

Nothing.

I absolutely hate it when our politicians do things like this. Each bill should stand on its own merits and should cover ONE TOPIC.

Both Party's have used the tactic of putting unrelated items into bills in the dead of night; however, The Republicans seem to be doing it even more often then The Democrats did...

One other thing worth noting; there was a portion of this Port Security Bill that would require background checks on the criminal backgrounds of dock workers. It was meant to keep convicted felons from handling goods in our ports. The reasoning was that if we want to make Port Security a priority we need to keep convicted criminals from being the ones handling the goods.

The unions threw a fit. So the Democrats threw a fit. So The Republicans joined the Democrats and immediately caved in... This provision was stripped from the bill... This is SHAMEFUL.

I remember back when John Kerry and The Democrats were trying to make Port Security a BIG DEAL in the 2004 Presidential Election. Now that we finally have a Bill to address this issue they decide to remove an important portion of it because they do not want to upset Unions. What a joke.

Neither Party should be proud of this Bill...

I strongly suggest that you vote against all incumbents in the upcoming elections. We need some new blood in Congress and we need it badly.

Mike Sylvester