Thursday, April 06, 2006

Update on HR 4423

Just came back from lunch to several emails. Word is HR 4423 has been reported out of Subcommittee, passed without Congressman Payne’s amendments. (Markup was today.) Early report is that all House democrats in Sub-com voted against it?!

I guess it goes on the House calendar next… Can Advocacy Ethiopia or the Diaspora groups working on this get up the low down?

This might just be only the begining from a Diaspora that is starting to wake up. Senate, anyone?

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does any one know when the bill is going to go to congress? If it gets there after the election, we will be busted coz democrats are expected to gain seats.
I wonder why democrats would vote against it though.

10:25 AM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe the reason the democrats didn't vote for the bill is because it is a bad bill. Everything the republicans do is bad. I don't know why the Ethiopian Diaspora are hitching their wagons to a falling star (and an evil one at that). The repugs are falling (starting 2006 )

1:43 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bingo anonymous!! You are absolutely correct! These Repubgs can't do anything right! They are snakes that need to be watched all the time. For the most part, the resolution is a joke. I just read the Mark-Up statement from Congressman Smith and I couldn't help laugh at some of the billet points. I am going to address some of these points in my own blog which I will be launching soon.

But you are correct, most Ethiopians in Diaspora are mis-informed about this administration and its supporter the Republican Congress. Good job pointing that out.

2:04 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah. Republicans are the bad guys here. After all, Carter, Clinton, Blair-- they've been so good for Africa, and even better for Ethiopia.

Let's get a grip. Blindly supporting the left has been a disaster not just for Ethio-Americans but for African Americans. Not one democrat in the senate or the house has stepped up. Bush is at 36% approval and democrats will still lose! I'm not the one saying that. daily Kos is. You go on supporting democrats. Clinton II is coming to a theater near you.

2:34 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Get a grip? Who has the firm grip on reality here? If I am not mistaken, Bush't 30 soemthing % approval started after the second 'election'. I also don't remember an election that took place since Nov of 2004. So, what seats are the Dem's supposed to be winning here? Your local kebele mircha? lol Get a grip yourself!

Yeah, the Repugs lie in front of your facse including the president, support every illegal and immoral actions done by this administration, help give the US a bad name around the world, and it's all the Dem's fault!

A word of advice, please refrain mentioning Blair along with Carter and Clinton in the context that you just did. It will not advance your argument. Yeah, I am not a big Clinton II fan either, but I will take her over any Repug fascist any day, baby!

3:01 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nefsu,

there is an election in 2006. mid term. democrats will not win. you know why? Bush has to be at 1% approval for anyone to look at democrats as leaders. The rise of the republican party to this height is because of utter democrat disillusionment. you have the unions. you have the minority vote. you have california, and you still lose. wonder why? coz all you can come up with is repugs. :)) and the closest you come to understanding politics is calling someone a fascist.

as the Wonq would say, rock on.

Is Blair not on the left?

3:44 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ayeee mekerachin, here it goes.

First, thanks for pointing out that there is an election in Nov...midterm. I was afraid I my miss it. LOL The rise of the Repug party may have been helped by the 'disillusionment' of the Dem's, but since 2000 it was solidified criminally by GW and his gang of criminals like K Rove and Tom DeLay. I suppose you worship those 'Christians' whose work doesn't even resemble even Satan himself, let alone a Christian. And in addition to that, one word for you, yene mekerega, Diebold. Yeah yeah yeah, I sound like a whining Dem when I bring up this issue, I've heard it all before from your heroes, Limbaugh and Hannity, but it does not make it untrue. Read yesterday's Cleveland Plain Dealer. Go and do your research.

Unions? Which ones? The ones that have been dismantled thanks to your, yes fascist Repugs' policies! You kidding me? Yes, we have California and it is a big wet dream of the Repugs to take Cali, but it will never happen. I never claimed to understand politics but I know a fascist when I see one. Forgive me for calling a spade a spade. Yeah, Blair is on the left. Just the left of GW. Oh well, but what do I know? You seem to have a better understanding of politics, so I am sure I am wrong about that as well. LOL

4:15 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey guys,
Arguing about dems and reps with a flavor of enemity is no use for our cause.
What we need to discuss is to evaluate the likely scenario and what we have to do then.

We don't have to lose our goal - free our people from the shakles of woyane.

cheers

5:03 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If ‘HR 4423’ survives through the full committee, inevitable dilution, haggle to schedule debate before election, the full congress, and all over again in the senate; at least it fair to assume the president won’t veto it. However, the steps the bill itself aspires to take, in my opinion, have negligible impact on the ground and on real politick.

Oh well, at least it will make a lot of people feel good about themselves.

5:31 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom,
That is exactly what all this back and forth alubalta is for; by the distracters to get our focus away from our real goal - the freedom of our people from the shakles of woyane.
We know where our bread looks buttered for now - it's with the repubs and not the dems. Here in Wonkland, these distracters are trying to do the job they are paid for by Woyane just as they are doing it within the Et churches in the US and any where we are congregating for something worthwhile. So if you do not want them to succeed then do not reply. Just ignore them and hope they will go away frustrated.

5:34 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

See? Just like the last anon told us - another distracter this time cutting down the whole US, its executive and legislative branches. Thanks bud, I am gonna cut myself an air ticket and move to Addis - as the TPLF parliament is a much more efficient and corruption free body.

5:51 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Zemed Anonymous,

I am not sure if i am the woyanne that is disrupting wonqville but....

Breathe in and think. why have democrats lost so many presidential elections? and when they win, they lose the house and senate? If Bush bashing made a difference, I would be deep in it. But getting vitriolic doesn't serve our purpose. The proof is in the pudding- successive democratic administrations have failed us Ethio-Americans. Fact or fiction? So when we say "maybe this is not working for us, what is the alternative?" (although not put as politely, I grant you that) you spin about like a dradle... "Repugs". (btw, its not as clever a nic as you think it is. but yihunilh. deha yalewin kewerewere and all.)

As Ethiopian Americans we have to play smarter politics. Why is it that we have learnt every aspect of American life except the parts that work: pragmatism and practicality? read your post again, brother. What conclusions, or as Ato Fiseha put it awkwardly, what can we INFER from your post? Why can't you temper your arguments? Because it is easier to call someone fascist. It uncomplicates matters. we've had enough of simple.

You and i will not see eye to eye on this: the approach, that is. But that's not a bad thing. I don't think you are a fascist or evil. But as long as your bottom line is "what is good for Ethiopia?" then we can work together in SOME capacity.

Melkam Ken.

6:12 PM, April 07, 2006  
Blogger zegabi said...

I have decided that Payne is really a good kil eras, I can't find any other way to explain it.

6:22 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Drama, drama!

Everybody from Kinijit Support North America to Donald Levine to Advocacy Ethiopia supports HR-4423.

The Ethiopian government was all for Payne's watered down markups.

Hmmm.

Now the real battle begins. Do Ethiopian-Americans have the mettle to push this through Congress and the Senate?

7:41 PM, April 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

First of all, get your anonymouses right. :) I wasn’t the one who thought you were the disrupter. OK deep breath…3 2 1… breath in breath out. OK, I am ready, but funny it didn’t change the way I feel.

Why have the Dem’s lost so many presidential elections? Let’s see, maybe the REPUBLICANS, (you happy? LOL ) keep stealing them? The issue is not the fashionable phrase ‘Bush Bashing’. That is too narrow, as Conell West put it. It is about the policy, both domestic and foreign. But it seems that your beef is with my choice of adjectives, and I can appreciate that. We all stand for something I suppose.

You said successive Democratic administrations failed us ‘Ethio-Americans’ (I will give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume that you meant Ethiopians, instead of Ethio-Americans, because it really sounds condescending if not self serving). May I ask you what a Republican administration served Ethiopia’s interest?

See, that’s the difference between your types, today’s moral majority, and the other side. You see politics as a ‘smart game’ to be played, instead of an honest discussion for all. Maybe that is the root of the problem as far as Ethiopians not grasping that part of ‘American life’ that works. Maybe it’s not in our blood, so to speak. The majority of Ethiopians have trouble with ‘playing smart politics’ because we are a straight forward type of people and our history shows that we have always been straight, no matter where it took us. It’s called honor and integrity. You can try and dress them up as ‘pragmatism and practicality’ but I call it compromising your integrity and principle. I’d like to keep the values that made us Ethiopians for this long. And this is no meaningless patriotic fervor, but part of our history. And yes, I would rather die deha than compromise my principles for something I don’t believe in. Nothing wrong with that. Nuro kalut mejaber yimokal.

You gonna have to do a better job explaining the connection between my post and Ato Fiseha’s ‘awkward’ inference about something and my post, because I have no idea what you are referring to there. Whether you believe me or not, I didn’t use the word fascist for effect. As you said, the proof is in the pudding. If you are interested, I can provide with the evidence in terms of similarities between your beloved Republicans and a true fascist, but it would have to be at a neutral site, not here. I don’t think bloggers here are interested in our back and forth and we should respect that.

Uhh and thanks for not confusing me with a fascist or and evil person, I appreciate that. And you’re right, I have no problem working with anyone in ANY capacity for ANY common good. After all, us deha’s are known to share what we have, or should I say mewerwer, including our wretched selves. BTW, that was a good one, spoken like a true compassionate conservative Republican. LOL

12:52 AM, April 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous,

You wrote: “ I don’t think bloggers here are interested in our back and forth.”
Yes, we are, my friend! We ARE interested! Don’t you know there’s nothing like a nice little row to get our juices flowing?

In fact, I wish I could join you, but I can’t. You see, I ain’t got a dog in this fight. To me, Donkey vs. Elephant is a classic case of “ ke-zinjero qonjo minu yimereTal?”

Sure, politics makes strange bedfellows, but do you, Anonymous, know what will happen to your ass if you go to bed with the Donkey? And you, Mekeregna, with an Elephant? I’ll tell you what will happen: 1. Some serious screwing is likely to take place. 2. Against the Elephant or the Donkey, YOU good people have “little” chance of doing the screwing, which means that you will be the screwee. Now, tell me, Anonymous, do you think your declaration that “you have always been straight” will mean a damn thing to the Donkey?

I hope this metaphor will encourage you people to bury the hatchet.

1:19 PM, April 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Could you two get out to Dodge city and shoot it out so that you leave this medrek for the rest of us who will try to use it to learn something and achieve something? sint yemisera sira eyale you two are bashing each other to pulp for practically nothing. get a grip sewotch/setoch or whatever you two are!!

2:15 PM, April 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC Webmaster:

I referred some of my American friends who wanted to visit Ethiopia to your website for visa information. They were appalled to see it being used for political discourse and were effectively turned-off from visiting my country. This will decrease the foreign currency earned by Ethiopia to pay for outstanding arrears, and used to provide much needed products and services to its citizens.

Specifically, references to Human Rights abuses, even if in defense of abuses, should not be saliently displayed on your website for fear of dissuading potential tourists.

When I visited the site I was embarrassed: Prominent display of fonts should be avoided -it creates an impression carelessness- I counted at least 10 different types of font sizes/colors where a consist one (1) would be more appropriate. I would suggest you visit other embassy websites for guidance.

Also, I noticed that the Ambassador on display, Mr. Ayele, is not the current one, so perhaps you should update this as well.

I hope you will find my message helpful. If you do not have the additional resources to effect these suggestions, I would be happy to volunteer web-editing services remotely to assist you.

Kind regards,
HTMLer who wants to help

11:27 AM, April 09, 2006  

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