Rule #1 Of Congress: Never Take Any Blame Upon Yourself. Rule #2 Of Congress: NEVER TAKE ANY BLAME UPON YOURSELF!

Here is what the politicians who represent the people of Utah in Washington have to say about the government shutdown.

Representative Rob Bishop (Republican – 1st District) - September 28

“I wish we were passing a bicamerally agreed upon budget today instead of yet another short-term continuing resolution. As long as Senator Reid continues to stymie the budget process, we have no choice but to pass emergency stop gap measures that keep the government running. This bill also addresses the reality that few Americans are ready for the implementation of one of the most intrusive and expensive policies to have ever been signed into law. Additionally, it repeals the medical device tax that is forcing companies to hire workers outside of the United States, killing jobs in Utah and many other states. Even the President has acknowledged that there are serious problems with Obamacare, which is why he has unilaterally implemented delays of certain parts of the law. It’s troubling that in light of this, and the many problems emerging about the law, he has issued a veto threat of this continuing resolution. History illustrates that this type of governance does not result in a successful and thriving country. As George Santayana noted in his work, The Life of Reason, ‘those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Representative Chris Stewart (Republican – 2nd District) - September 30

“Like the American people, I want to keep the government open and operational. But President Obama and the democratic senate leadership have refused to talk with us.  The majority of the nation and Utahns want to repeal and defund Obamacare, one of the most destructive and expensive laws ever passed. This is an important and necessary fight. If Obamacare is implemented, it will come with a $1.3 trillion price tag, paid for by increased health premiums and taxes—increased costs that hard working American families simply can’t afford. House Republicans have repeatedly come to the table to negotiate. I wish the President and Harry Reed would do the same.”

Representative Jason Chaffetz (Republican – 3rd District) - September 30

“Were trying to work [out a deal], we are passing stuff out, but [the Senate] is taking us to the finish line; that’s what their doing…The United States Senate needs to make adjustments as they see fit and send it back to us (the US House).

I think a delay in [Obamacare] is a reasonable expectation, I believe the Obama administration, unilaterally, and multiple times over the last several months, cherry-picked which parts their going to delay, its not ready…[I can not] disregard all of my voters and all of the promises I made in how I got elected…there were a lot of people in 2010 who were elected on this issue, and to just say ‘forget about that because of President Obama’s election’ – we can’t do that. There got to be some respect that we too were elected, and the majority of the people that serve in the House of Representatives are Republicans because the Obamacare law that was pass was so reprehensible [voters] swept the Democrats out and put Republicans in.”

Representative Jim Matheson (Democrat – 4th District) - October 1

“For the first time in 17 years, our government is shut down due to partisan bickering over spending. Tonight the leadership of both parties allowed political games to stand in the way of keeping our government open for business.

Again today I voted for two provisions: one, to remove the Member of Congress and staff exemption from Obamacare, and two, to delay Obamacare’s individual mandate for one year.  I accepted these specific provisions because I support the policies.

However, my top priority, and where our attention should be focused, is to keep the government operating. I am disappointed that the leadership of the House of Representatives lost sight of what should have been a straight up or down vote on a funding bill. Now more than ever, it is critically important that we work together in the name of getting things done.”

Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican) – October 1

“This is a dark moment in our nation’s history, and Utahns have every right to be disappointed in their government,” Hatch said. “The fact is that Senate Democrats failed to take common sense action to fund the government and change Obamacare to protect the American people. Republicans have listened to the American people who have been clear that they don’t think Obamacare is ready for primetime, and the House passed two pieces of legislation to fund the government while delaying the tax penalty for individuals, repealing the law’s requirement that everyone purchase health insurance, and to repeal the $31 million medical device tax. The Obama Administration has delayed parts of the health law six times, and Congress has voted to change it seven more times because the law’s a disaster. Now, ObamaCare is going live and state after state is saying they don’t have confidence that people’s privacy will be protected or that folks won’t be defrauded.  So why is it that the President can delay parts of ObamaCare, but Congress can’t? To not give individuals and hard-working families a reprieve from this disastrous law – the same treatment that employers have already been given by this White House – is nonsensical. That Senate Democrats shut down the government over listening to the American people is shameful.”

Senator Mike Lee (Republican) – Sept 30

“Senator Reid shouldn’t be allowed to negotiate by threatening to withhold payments to our military members.  The current fight in Washington is about whether or not Congress will act to protect the American people from Obamacare.  Our differences on that issue should not put at risk payments to our military.  They should be fully funded immediately.” 

The House passed the military pay bill unanimously on Saturday night.  Instead of reconvening the Senate on Sunday as some had called for, Senator Reid chose to wait until Monday afternoon to call the Senate back into session, increasing the possibility that the fight over Obamacare could put military pay in jeopardy. 

So apparently, according to my representatives in Washington, everyone else is to blame for the government shutdown except for themselves, and even if they are, in some small way, to blame for the shutdown, the shutdown is something they totally didn't want and they worked hard to prevent while other didn't.  It is any wonder Congress's approval rating is at 6%.

Source: Utah Political Capitol.

Cash Rules Everything Around Sim City

WHERETHEFUCKISTHEGODDAMNGAMEIGODDAMMNEDPAIDFORGODDAMNIT!!!

On Tuesday, the newest version of Electronic Arts's Sim City franchise was scheduled for release.  Millions of fans of city planning simulations waited patiently online for the game to finally be made available.  At midnight, Sim City was released, and almost immediately people started bitching on the world's favorite place to bitch, Twitter.  Rather than complaining about the game, as most gamers do when anything is released, consumers were complaining about not being able to get the game.

These complaints about availability are of a different nature than the complaints made about most games.  Electronic Arts made the decision to distribute the latest Sim City game digitally.  Even physical copies of the new Sim City did not contain the game, rather the physical copies contained a program for the user to download EA's digital distribution service, Origin.  Other companies have utilized a digital distribution method to disseminate major video game releases, and on paper it works.  However, it appears that digital distribution of a major video game release is a concept that resembles communism, supply-side economics, and politics: It looks good on paper, but problems arise when it is actually applied to people.

On Midnight of the game release, a flood of people tried to download Sim City at once.  The resultant overload of the game's digital servers caused the servers to become unavailable to consumers.  Unavailability of the game that they paid good money for caused many consumers to rage out against the game's publishers, the distribution method utilized by the game's publishers, the consumer's ISPs, random people on the street, and, for some unknown reason, President Obama.

Some users took their outrage a bit too far.  On Day 1 of the GODDAMMNSIMCITYBEINGOFFLINESONOFABITCH Crisis, otherwise known as Tuesday, a fire broke out at a grail silo on property owned by the FLDS Church in Custer County, South Dakota.  Although first reported by members of the community to be the working of "An apostate who means harm to our way of life", Custer County Sheriffs later identified thirty-one year old Watford resident Hal Abell as being responsible for the fire.  When asked for a reason for setting the fire, Mr. Abell was only heard to say, "I paid good money to be mayor of Simville, I want what I paid for goddamnit!"

It is unknown when normal stable will be restored to the players of Sim City.  We can only hope that a further outage doesn't cause an outburst like the one seen when the Fox series Traffic Light was cancelled.  We don't need to see another revolution in Libya.

C.R.E.A.E.A.

As was mentioned earlier, when Electronic Arts's latest version of Sim City was released, the physical release included a physical disc.  The physical disc, rather than including the game, included a program to download EA's digital distribution platform, Origin.  It is through Origin, and only through Origin, that the latest Sim City game is to be distributed.  So why include a physical disc at all?

This question was asked to Electronic Arts's public relations department.  Rather than suppling us with a less than adequate response, our question was given to EA's Green Initiative Director, Gabriel Nelson, pictured above.  When asked about why a physical disc was included in the physical edition of Sim City, even though the need for one is not really necessary, Mr. Nelson said:

We included a physical disc with the physical edition of Sim City as an aid to our consumers.  Many of the people who play Sim City are not as technologically adept as the typical hardcore gamer.  It is to those consumer's benefit that we include a physical disc with the physical edition of Sim City.

When it was pointed out that many of these consumers could easily follow clearly written instructions as to how to obtain the game digitally, Mr. Green said:

I understand your concern, but my job is not to eliminate avenues for consumers to obtain our products.  My job is to increase the amount of green that our company con obtain.

When asked what he meant by "green", Mr. Nelson said:

Green.  You know, the colour money is?  Yes, money is of paramount important to us.  Cash rules everything around Electronic Arts.

This Guy Claims To Represent Me

On Tuesday, it was announced that first term Utah Republican Representative Christopher Stewart was tabbed to be the chairman of the House Environmental Subcommittee.  In a statement, Representative Stewart said this about the appointment:

FUCK THE ENVIRONMENT!

jk