Progress/Congress

An old joke said - what is the opposite of progress? The answer is congress. The Senate has voted to eliminate the Byrd amendment. You may remember that this amendment by former KKK member Sheets Byrd "protects" companies from "foreign dumping" - in reality what it does is set up protectionist walls by collecting tariffs that are then sent directly to the companies claiming the dumping. Somehow in the logic of Senator Sheets this kind of legilsating makes sense - even though it makes us less competitive and rewards industries who whine to the government instead of trying to compete. The amendment would take effect in two years - that is way to long - but if that is the price to get rid of the monster porkbarrel then so be it.