I am so glad I didn't go to the Montana show.

Polar bear bill ties Senate in knots

http://news.yahoo.com/senate-considers- ... 09853.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — On its last day in session before the election, the Senate tied itself in knots over 41 polar bear carcasses that hunters want to bring home from Canada as big game trophies.
After punting tough decisions on far weightier issues like raising taxes and cutting spending, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted that the Senate address the wide-ranging sportsmen's bill before voting on must-pass legislation to prevent the government from shutting down at the end of next week.
Republicans resisted for a while Friday, contending the only reason Reid wanted the vote now on the bill long sought by hunters and sport fishermen was to benefit Democratic incumbent Jon Tester 's re-election prospects in a tossup race in Montana that could determine which party runs the Senate next year.
"This isn't a campaign studio, It's the Senate," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., complained on the Senate floor Friday. "We've got responsibilities to meet. Let's meet them. And leave the politics out of it for once."
The House had passed a similar bill in April that was co-sponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg, Tester's Republican opponent in the Montana Senate race. In the end, Tester would get only a test vote as the Senate, yet again, punted another issue until after the election.
Tester's bill combines 19 measures favorable to outdoorsmen. In addition to dealing with the polar bear hides, it would allow more hunting and fishing on federal lands, let bow hunters cross federal land where hunting isn't allowed, encourage federal land agencies to cooperate with state and local authorities to maintain shooting ranges, exclude ammunition and tackle from federal environmental laws that regulate lead, boost fish populations and protect animal habitat.
Tester suggested that Friday's compromise allowing for a test vote but delaying a final one exemplifies why Congress has such a poor approval rating from voters.
"That might take some of the politics out of it and if we ever made a decision here without politics it would be an earth shattering day," Tester said. "This bill right here is a prime example of what is wrong in Washington, D.C. — it's being held up for no reason whatsoever."
The polar bear provision would allow the 41 hunters —including two in Montana — who killed polar bears in Canada just before a 2008 ban on polar bear trophy imports took effect to bring the bears' bodies across the border. The hunters involved were not able to bring the trophies home before the Fish and Wildlife Services listed them as a threatened species.
Tester said it would just allow a few people who have polar bear trophies stored in Canada to finally bring them home. "These polar bears are dead, they are in cold storage and we know exactly who they are," he said.
Michael Markarian of The Humane Society of the United States criticized the measure. "The cumulative impacts of incentivizing this killing over and over again are contrary to American conservation law," he said.

pjhawks wrote:

who supports every legislative action by one candidate they support? If you looking for a 100% approval of action a legislator makes or has made then you are going to deeply disappointed. maybe the guys don't support THIS part of Tester's ideology. i'm sure there is not one candidate i've ever voted for that i couldn't find something he supported or voted for that i disagree with. can you?

Great points. I mean, hell, even the man I've chosen to live my life with isn't 100% on the same page as I am on each and every issue.

Some things we assign greater weight to, some things we choose to overlook; we almost have to simply rationalize shit for our own purposes and happiness - and that's not always a negative. It's just life.

I think it was Drifting who said on another thread something to the effect that he'd be broke and starving if he based his buying/living choices on where every person and company stood on various issues (I'm sure I decimated that, but you get the drift).

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

A right-leaning democrat who connected with the people, protected their roadless land and supports gun rights is never going to get elected in Montana.

I mean, aren't they all gay cowboys there?

We get it you are gay, does everything you talk about have to have that common denominator. Oh yeah I am not a homophobic, I have plenty of friends who are gay, they just do not bring it up in every conversation we have.

Jeanwah wrote:

Clearly, no one knows about all the other things Tester is about if they're completely focused on one thing that they're against.

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/jon_tester.htm

So it doesn't bother you that Tester wasted the Senates last session before the election so douchebags like this can hang the head of an endangered animal over their fireplace?

it's a pretty big issue ...

would be enough for me to not vote for tester ...

polaris_x wrote:

it's a pretty big issue ...

would be enough for me to not vote for tester ...

It's a disgrace and shouldn't be dismissed as a one off issue. :fp:

polaris_x wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

If your only other option was a Karl Rove backed republican, would you really, Polaris?

well ... you know i would most likely not vote for a republican ... if all the candidates shared his position on this - then i guess i would have to spoil my ballot ... everyone has their key issues ... this would be big enough for me to not support him ...

There likely would have been a green party candidate that would have been opposed to it ... don't they allow write in's ... Polaris for US Congress.

I'm even more shocked that these hunts are allowed in Canada ... shame on us.