Pancakes Are More Than For Breakfast

CFO Alex Sink is demanding the resignation of Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos and her aide Kevin Thibault. The latter sent emails to Kopelousos with the code words "pancake," "pancakes" and "french toast." The two were not making plans to hit Denny's grand slam breakfast menu. The words refered to the CSX contract for the recently approved Sunrail deal. The Sunshine law requires all government business be conducted in the open. Kopelousos gave an explanation that doesn't pass the laugh test.

"There was nothing more, nothing less than just that," said Kopelousos, appointed by Crist in 2007. "We were not trying to circumvent any public records request. It was just a mere eye-catcher so I would look at the e-mail."

Sink sent an email out to supporters demanding the immediate removal of Kopelousos and Thibault.

Dear Friend,

Like many of you, I woke up Monday only to learn that Florida Department of Transportation officials -- including Transportation Secretary Kopelousos -- may have deliberately used code words like “pancakes” and “waffles” during the back-room crafting of commuter rail legislation in order to disguise their communications and avoid the scrutiny of public record requests.

Apparently, these government officials, YOUR government officials, may have decided "pancakes" aren't just for breakfast anymore -- but, instead, are a way to duck transparency and cover their actions.

It's not cute, nor clever. It is outrageous. We have to change the way that the people's business is done in Tallahassee. That means holding our state government accountable and ensuring that Florida officials are living up to our state’s name -- and reputation -- as The Sunshine State.

That's why I called on Governor Charlie Crist to investigate this violation of Florida's "Sunshine Law" and hold every government official involved in this scheme accountable.

If Secretary Kopelousos and her staff have been hiding their communications from the people of Florida, they should immediately resign. Floridians deserve better than the deceptive conduct that has become commonplace in Tallahassee.

It's time to let the sunshine in and hold the career politicians accountable. Please forward this email to everyone you know -- and make sure Tallahassee knows that we're watching.

Gov. Charlie Crist originally defended Kopelousos. After catching heat from Republican State Senator Paula Dockery, Crist asked the state's inspector general to investigate the emails. My experience is Florida ethics investigations tend to go nowhere. What works against Kopelousos is Crist, Sink and Dockery are running for office. Crist doesn't need the hassle and Sink and Dockery are running as reformers.

Grayson Against Afghanistan Surge

Alan Grayson is breaking with President Barack Obama on Afghanistan.

“Isn’t it more important to make sure 47 million Americans can go see a doctor when they need to, than it is send our young men and women across an ocean and across a continent to fight who knows what,” he said in a press conference. “Isn’t it more important to spend our money on schools instead of bullets?”

I wonder how long it is until other Democrats started breaking ranks. I originally supported Gen. McChrystal additional troop request. Obama's confusing West Point speech changed my opinion. I don't believe Obama thinks Afghanistan is worth fighting for. The President sent troops for his political survival. It is hard to respect a man that places his re-election hopes above the lives of young men and women in uniform.

My sincere apologies to bestiality supporters in Florida

The first time I ever heard about bestiality laws, or rather the lack of them, I was working at a small community newspaper outside of Phoenix, Ariz in the spring of 2006. I had just called a source and we were chatting on the line, when my colleague Tommy returned from a recent interview and the words "fucked a sheep" rang in my ear.

"What?" I blurted out, right in the middle of the phone call.

Tommy saw I was on the phone, but he didn't care. His face was red from laughter and tears were streaming from his eyes.

"I was just at --" his words broke up, because he was laughing so hard, "the home of the fire chief. He's been arrested, for, for ..."

He could barely finish.

" . . . fucking a sheep!"

And with that, the whole office stopped what they were doing with looks of shock and awe. I quickly ended my conversation and Tommy filled me in with all the gruesome details.

According to the police report, Mesa Fire Chief Leroy Johnson snuck into his neighbor's yard, grabbed a lamb, pulled it into a shed and proceeded to violate the poor animal. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), the neighbor's 13-year-old daughter was home, saw the man grab the lamb and called her father, Alan Goats (real name!). When Goats arrived at his home, he found Johnson with his pants down bent over the sheep. Johnson allegedly told his neighbor, "You caught me Alan. I tried to fuck your sheep!" Police later arrested Johnson.

The story was really quite sad, especially for animal lovers like Tommy and I, but we couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of it. For the next few hours, we came up with the best headlines for the story:

"Fire Chief on the lamb after being caught on a lamb"

"Fire Chief gets neighbor's goat"

"Police to Fire Chief: Baaaaaaaa-d idea"

"Johnson screws Goat's sheep"

Later that year, Arizona passed a bill to ban bestiality. I, for one, was surprised it wasn't already illegal. I mean, Massachusett's still has a law that women can't be on top during sex, and in many states, oral sex is illegal. But somehow having sex with animals slipped by?

Fast forward to 2008, when I released my first installment of the Bipartisan Guide to Ridiculous Legislation. The first item on my list was the bestiality law some Democrats tried to pass in the Florida Legislature. In news reports, the legislators kept bringing up one case in the Panhandle where a man raped and killed a goat, but was only charged with killing the goat. I thought it was ridiculous to spend all this time on one or two instances that could have been solved by a judge. Here's what I said:

More disturbing than the thought of our North Florida neighbors boning sheep is that taxpayers paid some Tallahassee lawyer to write the language of this rather long bill that details all the different ways you can have sex with an animal. (Read the full description here [pdf].)

Hey, I'm all for protecting animals, but when Florida lawmakers can't even figure out how to deal effectively with human sexual predators, I think animals need to take a back seat.

So to speak.

That rankled quite a few animal lovers, including State Rep. Bill Heller.

Then, earlier this year, when lawmakers introduced the bill again, I re-stated how ridiculous I thought it was:

I feel the same now — that bestiality has never been “legal” and animal cruelty laws are sufficient — but there were more wacky bills this session than last to justify putting it on the list.

But this year, I'm changing my tune. If lawmakers put out a bill during next session, I'll support it. Why my change of heart?

Well, Florida is apparently a lot more dysfunctional than I thought. Thanks to the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, I discovered our state has more than a few dog-fuckers.

In just one week in October, two men were in court for separate animal abuse incidents. In Orlando, Laszlo Arsenio Horvath was accused of sodomizing his dog, which later had to be euthanized due to her injuries. In Palm Coast, a judge sent Carla Rhea Maldonado to prison for lewd and lascivious battery of a teenage girl. Although photos confiscated by police showed Maldonado having sex with a dog, too, she was not charged with any animal cruelty.

That second case should be the rallying cry of animal rights advocates next session. It demonstrates the link between bestiality and other forms of sexual abuse, plus it shows that the judges can (and do) ignore current animal cruelty laws.

I guess we really do need to spell out to Floridians that you cannot fuck animals.

(photo courtesy of Roger B./Flickr)

St. Petersburg Homeless Image street newspaper debuts

If you traveled downtown at all this weekend, you may have spotted folks hawking an unfamiliar newspaper.

The St. Petersburg Homeless Image -- a forum for advocates, homeless and formerly homeless people, students and the general public -- made its debut this weekend on the streets of St. Pete. The paper includes articles on the homeless lawsuit against the city, St. Pete's designation as "Second Meanest City," a blistering attack on the St. Petersburg Times for their recent article against panhandling and passionate obits on recent street people who died.

The paper is the brainchild of G.W. Rolle, a formerly homeless man who serves on the county's Homeless Leadership Network. The project grew out of a need to provide accurate, passionate news and opinions to the people of St. Pete during an unusually hostile atmosphere toward the homeless. Plus, through a generous vendor program, the paper provides an economic opportunity to the city's homeless. They can sell the paper for a profit and, besides getting some extra cash, learn valuable job skills. Rolle told me it's a good alternative to panhandling.

The idea is nothing new. In 19 cities throughout the United States and Canada, "street newspapers" have proven effective in giving homeless people a "hand-up" instead of a "hand-out." Street newspapers even have a national umbrella organization backing them.

If you pick up a copy -- and you should -- you'll find a few articles written by myself and some homeless advocates across the county. The design and editing needs a little work, but the St. Petersburg Image is a good example of the kind of alternative journalism we need in St. Pete.

The Poodle Bites, The Poodle Chews It.

Lagniappe: In case you missed it, the CBC has a three part radio show about Zappa, I Am All Day and Night: The Music of Frank Zappa. Tip of the hat to DarkBlack.



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Quote of the Day

"Plus there are the Republicans using procedures, parliamentary procedures, and offering all these amendments. Now the purpose -- I talked to Sen. McConnell about the purpose of the amendments. He said we're trying to flush out with these amendments, just who it is that really we have to focus on here. And the two names that he mentioned were Ben Nelson and Jim Webb in Virginia. Because there's something that Webb is not going along with the Democrats on, I forget specifically what it is. My point in mentioning all this is, that the Republicans in the Senate are using parliamentary procedures, they are offering all these amendments, not to make the bill better, but to flush out and to find out who it is that they really need to work with to stop this. That is their objective, to stop it."

Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show

The Party of No strikes again. Republican don't care about health care. The only thing on their radar is the midterm elections and pleasing their corporate base.

Jim Greer is Not Making Friends

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer is not endearing himself to conservatives. There is a Facebook group called "Is Jim Greer an alien?" Being mocked by the party's base is not a good sign. At issue is Greer actively supporting Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio in the Republican Senate primary. Another issue is Greer's unwillingness to have transparency for the credit card expenses of former Florida House Speaker Ray Samson. Former RNC finance chairman Al Hoffman has taken issue with the latter. Lawson is asking Greer to resign.

Dear Jim,

As a former finance chairman of several gubernatorial campaigns, finance co-chair of two presidential campaigns, as well as finance chair of the Republican National Committee (twice) I am writing to express my opinion that It is time for you to resign.

It is time for you to resign in order to end the excessive, irresponsible, unethical, and perhaps illegal spending that has marked your administration and has moved the Republican Party from millions of dollars in surplus at the time you took office to millions of dollars in deficit by the end of this month.

It is time for you to resign in order to restore faith in the ability of the party to spend wisely and restore confidence in the many of our donor base who have withheld giving as long as you are at the helm, myself included.


It is time for you to resign in order for all Republican candidates to have a better chance for success in 2010, a critical election year. They simply cannot try to run viable campaigns at the same time they are bound by the yoke of trying to defend their party chairman's actions and off the wall statements.

It is time for you to resign in order to avoid a near certain disastrous public spectacle if the rest of the party leadership is forced to resort to removing you from office this coming year.

Finally, it is time for you to resign for your own best interests and more importantly, for the good of the party to have fresh and strong leadership that is above reproach

Al Hoffman

Greer is not going to resign. Gov. Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum are in difficult races. The Florida Republican status quo needs Greer right where he is at.

Dodd Fact-Checks Republicans

Sen. Chris Dodd blasts Republicans for false claims that they were not included in the health care bill writing process. Dodd proves this by noting Sen. Mike Enzi wrote 41 amendments to the Senate bill. He notes the irony of Republicans wanting to help write a a public option health care bill. Republicans stating from the get go they would not vote for any bill containing the public option.

Acoustic Habakookah

Lagniappe: The return of a holiday classic: Zombie Woof Parts One and Two



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Boehner: Tiger, I like to introduce you to John Ensign.

Metric Music Goodies

I can't get enough of Metric. I just recently discovered the band. I haven't been excited about a band in awhile.

Satellite Mind mp3



Help Me Alive mp3



Don't Think Twice It's Alright mp3

Quote of the Day

"You know, look. The purpose of this [the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)] was to stabilize the financial sector, which it did. And then, the intention was that any unspent monies or any money that was returned to the taxpayers would go to deficit reduction. Since President Obama came to office, the federal deficit has grown by $1.46 trillion. That is 1,460 billions of dollars."

Karl Rove, on Fox and Friends

Boy that is a big whopper of a lie. The Congressional Budget Office reports the federal deficit was $1.2 billion on January 7,2009. The date was shortly before President Obama was sworn into office. I am less than thrilled with Obama's lack of fiscal conservatism. However, for Rove to blame Obama for the deficit takes brass balls.

Fox News Isn't Good At Math

The graphics at Fox News News continues to be a source of humor. Fox News showed Rasmussen poll asking respondants if global warming scientists were rigging their research. Notice the poll numbers add up to 120 percent. Unsurprisingly, Media Matters reports Fox News falsely reported the poll numbers.

The actual poll numbers.

3* In order to support their own theories and beliefs about global warming, how likely is it that some scientists have falsified research data?

35% Very likely
24% Somewhat likely
21% Not very likely
5% Not at all likely
15% Not sure

Alan Grayson on Hardball

Rep. Alan Grayson goes on Hardball and says Dick Cheney should STFU. Literally. Grayson also talks about the changes in the health care bill. He wants all Americans to have access to the Medicare provider network.

Update: Wrong video earlier. My bad.

Quote of the Day

"How much is man really responsible for, how much happens naturally? It’s climate change – the climate has been changing for eons. It’s not global warming. It’s the climate. There are natural occurences that are taking place."

Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson

Bronson also told reporter Josh Hafenbrack he is a global warming "skeptic" and took a shot at Al Gore. Way to keep it classy, Chuck.

Obama's Welfare For the Health Care Industry

A new CBS poll shows President Barack Obama has a better approval rating on Afghanistan and the economy than for health care.

Obama Approval Poll Numbers

Overall - 50 percent
Afghanistan - 48 percent
Economy - 47 percent
Health care 42 percent

59 percent of Americans favor the public option. 29 percent of Americans oppose. Politically, it made no sense for Obama to oppose the public option. It makes more sense when one understands the White House refused to release the names of health care industry officials that had meetings at the White House. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to force the White House to release the list of names.

• February 4 (meeting with Tina Tchen)
• February 23 (meeting with president)
• March 5 (meeting with president)
• March 25 (meeting with Jennifer Cannistra)
• March 30 (meeting with Ezekiel Emanuel)
• April 6 (meeting with Tina Tchen)
• May 22 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)

J. James Rohack (President-elect, American Medical Ass'n.):

• March 25 (meeting with Ezekiel Emanuel)
• June 22 (meeting with president)
• June 24 (meetings with Clare Gallagher and president)

William Weldon (Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson):

• May 12 (meeting with president)

Jeffrey B. Kindler (Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc.):

• March 5 (meeting with president)
• May 6 (meetings with Sarah Fenn and Elizabeth Bafford)
• June 2 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)

Stephen J. Hemsley (President, CEO, Director, UnitedHealth Group, Inc.):

• May 15 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)
• May 22 (meeting with Peter Orszag)
• July 14 (meeting with Aneesh Chopra)

Angela Braly (President, CEO, Director, WellPoint, Inc.):

• February 13 (meeting with president)

George Halvorson (Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan):

• March 27 (meeting with Keith Fontenot)
• June 5 (meeting with Peter Orszag)
• July 23 (meeting with Kathleen Sibelius)
• July 24 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)

Jay Gellert (President and CEO, Health Net, Inc.):

• February 10 (meeting with Tina Tchen)
• March 11 (meeting with Jennifer Cannistra)
• March 20 (meeting with Matt Flavin)
• July 24 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)

Thomas Priselac (President and CEO, Cedars-Sinai Health System):

• April 3 (meeting with Ezekiel Emanuel)

Richard Clark (Chairman, President and CEO, Merck):

• March 24 (meeting with Ezekiel Emanuel)


Wayne T. Smith (Chairman, President and CEO, Community Health Systems):

• June 4 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)

Rick Smith (Sr. Vice President, Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America):

• May 19 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)
• June 2 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)
• July 7 (meeting with Jim Messina)
• July 24 (meeting with Sarah Fenn)

Obama does not support a public option. The President does support very American being required to buy private health insurance. This will give the health insurance industry new custumers. The White House made an agreement with the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association to not allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug rates. Contrary to what the tea baggers believe, the only welfare Obama supports his for corporations.

Politico's Ben Smith received a letter from a heath care industry official. The health care industry is doing a victory lap.

"We WIN," the insider writes. "Administered by private insurance companies. No government funding. No government insurance competitor.”

SunRail Funding

According to Sen. Bill Nelson, the federal government has agreed to give SunRail $40 million in funding. The House and Senate still has to finalize the deal. The White House supports the SunRail project.

Rachel Maddow Interviews Bernie Sanders

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sen. Bernie Sanders tells Rachel Maddow the public option is dead. Sanders has reservations about the new proposal bering floated in the Senate. Unfortunately, no one is sure what is going to replace the public option.

Superchunk - Cool

This is Superchunk performing Cool at the Whiskey Go Go in 1992.

Quote of the Day

"They’d all walk to the front of the House and, laughingly and jokingly, put their arms around each other’s shoulder like it was some kind of clownish fun. And they did this over and over to make sure every vote took half an hour. That’s how low things have gotten. I could give you countless examples just like that. They’re simply obstructionists and there’s nothing you can do about it."

Rep. Alan Grayson, on House Republicans intentionally forgetting their voting cards

Attack of the Tomatoes

I am not a Sarah Palin fan. That said, I do not condone people throwing tomatoes at political figures. It is an act of stupidity and could cause a violent situation. Palin wasn't hit. A police officer providing security was struck with a tomato.

Is the Public Option Dead?

Josh Marshall reports the public option is dead.

The AP is reporting that the Senate Dems have come to a tentative deal, which drops the Public Option from the senate health care bill. What is in its place, if anything, is not clear.

The Associated Press lacks details about why the public option was dropped. What is clear is Majority Leader Harry Reid ruled ruled cloture to pass the public option with less than 60 votes. This is a tactical mistake. I understand the Senate health care bill would be debated and voted on in piece meal. I actually think that is a great idea.

The good news is Sen. Ben Nelson's anti-abortion amendment failed on a 54 to 45 vote. Nelson said the amendment's failure "makes it harder to be supportive." Like Nelson was actually going to vote for the public option. Nelson just wanted to get his amendment in.

What is clear is President Barack Obama's lack of leadership on the public option. Mainly, the President and Rahm Emanuel have been trying to kill the public option. As much as people such as Kenneth Quinnell, want to have you believe the fantasy that Obama supported the public option. Obama told Senate Democrats he prefers a trigger. Obama spoke to Senate Democrats this weekend and didn't once mention the public option or Nelson's anti-abortion amendment. Obama is not conserned with protecting women reproductive rights or creating a competitive health care market. Obama wants a political victory and to increase business of the health insurance industry. The lobbying money from insurance companies will help Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.

Cenk Uygur blasts Obama for not lobbying for the public option. Is this the change Democratic voters were expecting?



Update: Jay Rockefeller confirms there will be no Medicaid expansion deal.

This afternoon, Jay Rockefeller said that the new proposal to expand Medicaid coverage for those who are 133% to 150% above the federal poverty line was dropped during a meeting of key legislators this morning. “I was sad this morning,” Rockefeller told me and a few other reporters. “We walked in, and it was 133[%] to 140[%], then it’s staying at 133... So we didn’t get anything.”

Kent Conrad said Governors did not want to pay funding into Medicaid. Considering the current economic situation that is understandable.

Update: the opt-out public option is gone. Medicare will be expanded for people 55 to 64 for people 133 percent above the poverty line. The idea is to reduce cost. We just added people to the Medicare rolls that can't afford health insurance. There are good arguments to add these people for medical and humanitarian reasons. The Senate is not addressing rising health care cost. That was the whole point of the debate. This is a victory for the health industry lobbyists.

I am not even going to waste my time discussing the trigger.

Strangest Anti-Health Care Reform Ad Ever

Rev. Jess Jackson said, "You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man." A strange anti-health care ad has people looking into the camera saying, "I guess I am racist." The filmmaker responsible for the ad is Ray Griggs. The target of Griggs ad is white people that feel oppressed by black leaders, such as Jesse Jackson. The Democratic Party no longer pays attention to Jackson. The people that would respond to Griggs ad are not going to be seen in civil right marches singing We Shall Overcome.

The problem with the ad is anti-health care reform Americans are looking into the camera declaring themselves racists. I understand the statement is meant as sarcasm. (Barely.) Many others will not. Republicans publicly lament why black people do not join the GOP. Look no further than this ad. This ad will appeal to the most conservative Republican voters. The ad isn't going to make young Americans want to change their voter registration.

Side note: I understand the ad is not sponsored by the RNC. People can be against the health care reform bills in the House and Senate and not be racist. There can be an intelligent dialogue about the pros and con of health care reform. Unfortunately, conservatives have resorted to fearmongering. Tea Party protesters holding signs of President Obama cutting Uncle Sam's throat is racist and unacceptable.

Photo by Edward Favara

The conservative movement does not care if it is viewed as racists. Conservatives will argue the mainstram media is too PC. These true believers are attempting to purge moderate Republicans. The tea party movement cost the Republican Party a New York Congressional seat. Republicans astroturfed a movement they now can not control. The stupidity of it really should not amaze me.

Florida Nurses Association Health Care Forum

The Florida Nurses Association will be hosting a health care forum for Florida House District 46 voters. The forum will be held on December 10, 2009.

The Florida Nurses Association District 46 is proud to announce a very important community event. On December 10th, 2009 District 46 will be hosting a public panel discussion forum that will discuss the proposed federal healthcare reform legislation, it’s impact on healthcare delivery and what it means for you!
This panel is a non-partisan panel of experts who will discuss the proposed legislation, educate the audience on the details of the proposed bills and discuss the potential impact of this important legislation.

The panel will provide important information on how you can influence the outcome of this legislation and become more politically active!

This event is open to all and is free of charge. Refreshments will be served.

The Florida Nurses Association held a December 1st forum with a panel that leaned anti-health care reform. Tea bagger Dr. David McKalip gain national exposure for sending a racist photshopped email of President Barack Obama, dressed as a with doctor. Shawn Foster came as a representative of Gus Bilirakis' office. Bilirakis voted against the House health care reform bill. Bill Newton spoke on bahalf of the American Consumer Council. The group has lobbied their supporters to push centrist Senate Democrats to support the health care bill.

I am not aware who will be at the December 10 forum. Here is the information on the event.

Date: Thursday, December 10, 2009

Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Location: Sunshine Center Multi Services Senior Center 330 5th St N Saint Petersburg, FL 33701 (727) 893-7101

SunRail Deal Passes

The Florida Senate passed the SunRail bill 27-10. The vote was not as close as expected. Gov. Charlie Crist did some rare lobbying on behalf of the bill. Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. George Lemieux issued a joint letter expressing their support. A major surprise was Republican lawmakers making a deal with AFL-CIO President Mike Williams to preserve union jobs.

“Our goal of stopping the displacement of federally-qualified railroad workers from Florida’s passenger and freight railroads will not be compromised as experienced rail workers will continue to maintain Florida’s railways,” Williams said.

South Florida's Tri-Rail will get state funding to keep it solvent. 13,000 riders use Tri-Rail daily. The rail is an asset but hasn't been able to make a profit.

My problems with the SunRail proposal is CSX is protected from liability. Florida is buying the track from CSX. So the state does bear responsibility. Sen. Paula Dockery made the best argument for why the CSX deal is one-sided.

"We are paying them," Dockery said, "10 times what their corridor is worth for the honor of owning that corridor. It's now our corridor. So they're introducing freight into our passenger rail corridor. They should be indemnifying us. Not the other way around."

Senate President J.D. Alexander has land near the track that would dramatically increase with the new commutor line. Rep. Baxter Troutman asked made a big stick about Alexander having a conflict of interest. Troutman and Alexander are estranged cousins. So make your own judgement on what that feud is about. If anyone knows, feel free to drop a comment.

Interstate I-4 is a mess. A passanger rail from Tampa to Orlando makes sense. I didn't support the last SunRail deal. Unlike other progressives, I am not 100 percent sold on light rail as a tranportation fix. I understand the green and congestion arguments. The problem is light rail making a profit. Tri-Rail is a perfect example of a light rail program not able to stay financially solvent. The Florida Department of Tranportation is going to have to figure out a way to promote rail to the public.

If I was in the Florida Senate, I would have voted yes. The CSX deal isn't perfect but we need to look into a tranportation future and start dealing with gridlock.