Debating the budget today, May 3rd 2011

[GunnyFreedom]

This is going to be the worst. day. ever. Thank heaven for e-books on iPad. Today we go into session early at 9AM to debate, amend, amend, debate, debate the budget maybe for 10 hours and the outcome will be a straight party line vote.

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=h200

Anybody want to sneak up into the dome and feed me down a coffee tube? I guess up from the floor by the foot of the desk would be better, but then it would need a pump...

 

[Oldsouljer]

Just don't get caught doing this during the session.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/graphics/legislator.jpg

 

[aclove]

Did the protesters wake you up, Glen?

 

[PBrady]

I caught Glen on his phone today on the job!

Far side - 2nd full row from the back of the room - 2 people in

 

[rtvest]

I was totally there, did you guys pass a budget today?

 

[GunnyFreedom]

Just don't get caught doing this during the session.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/graphics/legislator.jpg

LOL I almost did, a friendly GOP kept me from dozing off. so I went furious on the iPhone to keep my mind active. the vast majority of the 'debate' is just delicate and deliberate posturing, and on the budget it was 10x worse. It was either sleep, leave, or do something else, so I read the amendment when it came up, reread it before voting, and then voted. most of the shifting was inconsequential. I'm not even going to try to make real shifts in budgetary policy until I have a deeper image of the whole picture.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

Did the protesters wake you up, Glen?

LOL wow, that adds a long story where the group of teachers that were sitting directly behind the railing when the protesters leapt out ended up chasing me down at the Youngsville McDonalds. their primary complaint was why not keep the 1 cent sales tax and how come a 10 minute break can actually last 20?

LOL that protest, that was a real mess huh? It's weird being on this side of something like that and seeing how disconnected that group of protesters were from what was actually going on around them. Seriously, I have to give the NCGA Sergeants at Arms credit for harming noone, tazing noone, macing noone, and letting everyone BUT the protesters stay in the gallery after the fact. A less enlightened legislature would have just cleared the galleries and be done with it.

It was exciting though lol. Those poor buggers in Wisconsin!

 

[GunnyFreedom]

I caught Glen on his phone today on the job!

Far side - 2nd full row from the back of the room - 2 people in

that's the only way I stayed awake.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

I was totally there, did you guys pass a budget today?

Yes, finally we did. After 12 hours of session. It could have been worse. If I were speaker I'd have let them prattle on until midnight and then slammed the door if they weren't ready to go yet. Instead they agreed on time limits. It passed second reading 72-47 I voted aye.

We still have to pass it on third reading, which is ordinarily a formality but it may bring on several more hours of debate.