Dem Congressman: ‘Imagine a World Without Balloons’

Speaking on the House floor yesterday, Representative Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) stood up for some of the most important victims of congressional gridlock: children’s birthday parties and comedians trying to make their voices high-pitched.

Discussing a bill to continue the federal government’s sales from the National Helium Reserve, Johnson intoned, “Imagine, Mr. Speaker, a world without balloons.”

www.nationalreview.com...


I was not aware of a "National Helium Reserve" although I was fully aware of that BS reserve that is located on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.

Imagine a world without balloons?

I'd rather imagine a world without idiotic congressman who use children as political props to push political agendas.

Hank Johnson people should remember the guy from Guam might tip over.

Can easily see why Congress has such an abysmal approval rating so lets keep spending money we don''t have so children can inhale helium "to make their voices high pitched".

Geez.

reply to post by neo96





I will do no such thing.

Seriously.... Where do these jack rabbits come up with this stuff...

reply to post by neo96


It's easy if you try.

But they say I'm just a dreamer......

So an elected official is an idiot. Not much of a surprise. Not much of an article either.

Sounds like the beginning of a bad movie trailer.

"Imagine a World Without Balloons...."

Next election it's time to replace them all. Every single last one of them. Replace them with Republicans, or Democrats, or singing kittens. I don't care, but the current group has got to go.

Originally posted by neo96
I'd rather imagine a world without idiotic congressman who use children as political props to push political agendas.

Pretty much this, rofl.
I seriously wonder what the hell is wrong with our congress.

Originally posted by Osiris1953
So an elected official is an idiot. Not much of a surprise. Not much of an article either.

Sounds like the beginning of a bad movie trailer.

"Imagine a World Without Balloons...."

Next election it's time to replace them all. Every single last one of them. Replace them with Republicans, or Democrats, or singing kittens. I don't care, but the current group has got to go.

Hank The Cat, Virginia Feline Running For U.S. Senate, Places 3rd

Link

reply to post by DestroyDestroyDestroy


Completely a coincidence that I would mention a cat. I considered going with rapid squirrels, or drunk chimps, but singing kittens just felt right. With that said, I can't imagine Hank would be any worse than what we have elected currently. They're a bunch of stinkers.

In a world...without balloons.
Children grow never realizing the thrill of having a higher pitched voice...
and birthday parties are endless voids ..lacking brightly colored,spherical floating orbs tied to string.
In this world...one lone man rises to action...
to fight the injustice perpetrated by a tyrannical government hell bent on control...
"He" and "He" alone would stand for the children...and the animals...and sometimes, even balloon animals...
"He" is ...Balloon Man

reply to post by neo96


Just because... I can't imagine a world without Red Balloons .

imagine a world that doesn't make useless eye candy out of resources that could be used elsewhere.

but what about the kids......

reply to post by neo96


hahahaha I remember the Guam might tip over episode. Hilarious! Although not quite as funny, it still deserves an award for not-so-important ways to spend taxpayer dollars.

The article says, "sales from".... does that mean the federal govt is trying to make money from the sales of helium at birthday parties? I guess it's like the stuff they sell at the Post Office.

For those who want more information on the National Helium Reserve:

President Ronald Reagan tried to get rid of it. So did President Bill Clinton. This October, their wish is finally set to come true.

he Federal Helium Program — left over from the age of zeppelins and an infamous symbol of Washington’s inability to cut what it no longer needs — will be terminated.

On Friday, in fact, the House voted 394 to1 to keep it alive.

Please direct your anger at 394 congressman that includes both blue and red.

Today, the program is another reminder that, in the world of the federal budget, the dead are never really gone. Even when programs are cut, their constituencies remain, pushing for a revival.

www.washingtonpost.com...

Related Reading:

hotair.com...

But seriously, no wonder we can't get our budget under control. The Prez wants to raise taxes so that the Helium Reserve will stay in operation. Why can't our govt actually try to relate to the working men and women who have to fork up to the IRS to pay for stupid stuff.

I guess the Nanny State is taking their role of parent seriously when it comes to Helium Reserves.

reply to post by neo96


While you may think this a funny and useless point on Capital hill, let's stand back and look at the big picture. Helium is the second lightest gas known to exist, (hydrogen being the lightest) in order to produce helium, a star has to fuse two hydrogen atoms together, we as a species haven't found a cost effective way to fuse hydrogen yet.

But this reserve is a holdover from both the second world war and the cold war/space race. Helium is a finite resource and cannot be readily squandered. Remember how I said that helium is the second lightest gas known? If you release helium into the atmosphere, it goes above it and gets swept out into space (space being that place above the air surrounding our ROUND GLOBE because the Earth isn't flat, that has little in the way of gas or gravity)

Now, how do we get helium here on Earth to begin with? Natural Gas, (one of those fun things we in America have that could reduce our dependency on foreign energy) in processing Natural Gas, helium is captured and stored in Texas of all places (cause we have learned that Texans know how to process and store explosive substances like Natural Gas )

Helium is a terrific coolant, and as such protecting this strategic reserve is important to not only national defense but to the economy.

Helium is part of my daily operations! We have to send up a helium filled balloon every time we fly our big balloons. This tells us wind direction direction and speed previous to flying. In the last two years the price has doubled. There is in fact a Helium shortage...

reply to post by neo96
Really? Why do we need to use the National Helium Reserve to air up party balloons? All of the Congressmen and Senators are full of hot air so let them blow up all the balloons- it's about time they had to earn their paychecks!!!

reply to post by HauntWok


Hey now...America needs money, not science. You just keep quiet!

"Let's sell off all of our nations reserves so the energy prices will drop $0.50!" -the average conservative

reply to post by neo96

Originally posted by neo96
I'd rather imagine a world without idiotic congressman who use children as political props to push political agendas.

Did you listen to his "speech"? It was filled with puns and jokes about helium. It was meant to be funny. Not a push for a political agenda. He was trying to be funny.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Well the humor was lost as this post clearly shows why:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by links234
reply to post by HauntWok

 

Hey now...America needs money, not science. You just keep quiet!

"Let's sell off all of our nations reserves so the energy prices will drop $0.50!" -the average conservative

FIgures a socialist would overlook the cost to every taxpayer for the subsidy

Emphasis mine. Only the federal government could possibly pile up $1 billion in debt selling 40 percent of the market share of a valuable commodity that many people want and need. Only the federal government could survive selling said commodity under market value by subsidizing it with other people’s money

hotair.com...

I have this feeling you have overlooked actual economic studies in your promotion of socialism.