NJ Senators just plain batty!

I can't help but want to scream when I see an article like this one:

N.J. legislators join push for funding to aid ailing bats
Effort aims to understand deadly syndrome
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
BY BRIAN T. MURRAY
Star-Ledger Staff
Federal lawmakers are seeking emergency funds from the U.S. Department of Interior to help scientists in the Northeast investigate "white-nose syndrome," a phenomenon blamed for the deaths of more than 1 million bats over the past two winters.

U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), along with 23 lawmakers from a dozen other states, signed a letter written yesterday by Vermont's congressional delegation to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking for his support. Citing the importance bats play in the North American ecosystem, including their consumption of insects, the letter states that white-nose syndrome "has profound public health, environmental and economic implications."

It isn't that I am anti-bat. Frankly, I have not noticed any difference in the number of bats swooping out of the trees behind my house at night. Clearly that is not a scientific argument. What galls me is that our senators should have something better to do.

One thing is clear. Senator Lautenberg and Senator Menendez vote complete lock step in line with whatever Harry Reid tells them to vote for. There is no independence. There is no real work involved with going along. And what is the evidence?

They are more worried about bats than they are about New Jersey taxpayers. Maybe they have more affinity for the former than the latter.

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