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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (164776)	3/18/2010 10:38:11 PM
From: Kevin Rose	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

Boy, is the one full of lies. I live in California, so the lies are easy to spot. Lie #1: The water re-allocation has been anticipated for a long time, ever since we started getting a lot more rain and snowpack than was anticipated. It was pretty obvious just looking at the reservoir and snowpack levels that the rationing would ease somewhat. You left out the following context from the release: As forecast by Reclamation on February 26, California is having a near-average water year following three years of drought. “The Department is deeply committed to working with all stakeholders to find solutions to the challenges – both short term and long term – facing water users throughout the Central Valley,” said Secretary Salazar, who was joined on the teleconference by Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor. “In this case, we accelerated our reporting of updated allocations, hoping to get the best available information to agricultural water service contractors as quickly as possible. This allocation update shows improvements from the previous allocation – just as we hoped in our recent announcement.” Lie #2: The rule subverts the Constitution by allowing the bill to pass without members actually having to vote on it. So, we've gone from 'unconstitutional' to 'subverting' the Constitution? Well, then Republicans are just as 'subversive' - more so, since they've used this 'subversion' more than Democrats (3 to 1). Lie #3: The 2-inch-long delta smelt, a fish destined for the Endangered Species list, plugs the drains releasing water to the farmlands. So to protect it, environmentalists filed lawsuits and the decision was made to restrict the water flow and safeguard the smelt, even if that meant turning some of America's best farmland into the functional equivalent of Death Valley. The wording here seems to indicate that the water is just sitting in some dam somewhere, waiting to be released. Unfortunately, that's just not true. The problem is that the water is NOT there - we've had three years of drought, and water levels in all lakes and reservoirs have been dangerously low. To imply that the problem is the smelt is yet another lie. Lie # 4 Agricultural losses could eventually total in the billions. All to protect a minnow, while politicians use the San Joaquin Valley as a bargaining chip in what some might consider a political bribe. You've never been to the valley, have you? It is very arid, a near desert, yet the farmer there have been growing crops using flood irrigation - including rice - for decades. With the population of the state rising, and LA robbing NorCal's water to keep the lawn's green, there is just not enough water to sustain the sort of wasteful crops being grown in the valley. Anytime there is a drought of a few years, this happens. Overuse of the remaining water is not the answer. Already, salmon and other species are threatened by the water overuse. Just Chock-ful-o-Lies today, aren't you?