Senate Hearings

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

Colbert on the plight of Immigrant Workers. Bono on the World Bank. Joli on Refugees. Clooney on the Sudan. Waterston on the Gulf Oil Spill.Seriously?I think that Politicians using Hollywood to help further their agenda is getting a little out of hand. They use "Hearings" and other artifices to get their pet agenda and messages on the front page. This seems like a misuse of public funds at times. If they want to hold hearings to look into key issues (not steroids!) and solicit input from real experts, then fine. But I think that this is yet another area where Watergate set a poor precedence.What is the real benefit and intention of Hearings? Where are they defined in policy and procedure? What budget do they hit?Any thoughts?

[mk 11]

Politics = show business for ugly people. They all just want to hang out with real celebrities.

[CaneBrain 95]

It's almost as bad as every two-bit politican rushing onto Fox News or MSNBC after the celebrity testifies to feign outrage about all these darn celebrities wasting people's time. 'Hey, politican douche, what is your time in front of the camera accomplishing exactly? Why don't you stop grandstanding and go do your job.'I also think Colbert brings more to the table than most dry, boring experts and that the misuse of public funds charge is a red herring.....how much do you think it cost to have Colbert testify? He paid for his own plane ticket and hotel. It didn't cost the taxpayers anything.

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

It's almost as bad as every two-bit politican rushing onto Fox News or MSNBC after the celebrity testifies to feign outrage about all these darn celebrities wasting people's time. 'Hey, politican douche, what is your time in front of the camera accomplishing exactly? Why don't you stop grandstanding and go do your job.'I also think Colbert brings more to the table than most dry, boring experts and that the misuse of public funds charge is a red herring.....how much do you think it cost to have Colbert testify? He paid for his own plane ticket and hotel. It didn't cost the taxpayers anything.

The direct cost to get Colbert there is one thing. What about security, staffers, wages of politicians sitting behind microphones, technology, more security, the building space, food, set-up, janitorial services...?I wouldn't be surprised to learn that one of those hearings cost a couple hundred grand an hour if you total up all of the costs and man hours to run the stinking thing.

[CaneBrain 95]

The direct cost to get Colbert there is one thing. What about security, staffers, wages of politicians sitting behind microphones, technology, more security, the building space, food, set-up, janitorial services...?I wouldn't be surprised to learn that one of those hearings cost a couple hundred grand an hour if you total up all of the costs and man hours to run the stinking thing.

I mean, if they didnt have a hearing with him, wouldnt they have just had someone else? I feel like they have hearings 3x per week no matter what.If your point is more leaning towards 'Congress has too many hearings period', I am on board 100%.

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

I mean, if they didnt have a hearing with him, wouldnt they have just had someone else? I feel like they have hearings 3x per week no matter what.If your point is more leaning towards 'Congress has too many hearings period', I am on board 100%.

Both.Too many hearings, and waste of time with false experts in any of them. If you can shorten a hearing by x hours by not giving a false expert the microphone, then you will save $ even on the "valuable" hearings.

[hblask 1]

I agree that hearings with celebrities is just stupid. Even though I agreed with Colbert and much of what he had to say, plus it was pretty funny, it was not the time nor the place for that. There's not enough people who actually study this stuff that they could bring in?

[LongLiveYorke 38]

Celebrities are a bunch of self-important, rich, privileged, and narrow-minded people who think they're 100 times smarter than they actually are. So, they sound perfect for the Senate to me.

[Roll the Bones 74]

In all fairness, Joli probably knows about the refugee situation than all the senators combined.

[strategy 4]

the colbert thing grabbed national media attention for what, two days? seems like mission accomplished to me. man, I should have chosen different words.another thing, there was a 2-5 minute clip of him speaking quite seriously on the topic that apparently no one aired anywhere.

[AmScray 355]

I've always thought 'celebrity expertise' in any form is absurd. I think a large part of the problem in this case is that testimony in these hearings is vetted in advance- you present the 'testimony' you're going to make, read it and are not permitted to deviate from it. Because of this, the entire process is a totally undynamic dog and pony show' people reading from sheets of paper. I think we can safely say that in the history of congressional and senate hearings, a politician hasn't ever voted any different as a result of testimony. The process should be open and unfettered. If I'm called to testify before congress, I should be able to cross examine them on the basis of their stated positions, as they can me. I knew a guy who knew a guy who had a friend who knew a guy who testified before congress on an issue. It was a joke.But yeah. Whoever approves this stuff is dumb. Of course, 90% of American politics is about appealing to retards, so you can't exactly be baffled by their motives.