So Much for our Esperanza Families.

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 18, 2006

President signs H.R. 1472, H.R. 4246, H.R. 4720, H.R. 5108, H.R. 5736, H.R. 5857, H.R. 5923, H.R. 5989, H.R. 5990, H.R. 6078, H.R. 6151, S. 1219, S. 1820, S. 3759, S. 4050, and S. 4073

On Monday, December 18 2006, the President issued into law:

H.R. 1472, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Tito Puente Post Office Building;

H.R. 4246, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Dr. Robert E. Price Post Office Building;

H.R. 4720, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Beverly J. Wilson Post Office Building;

H.R. 5108, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Lance Corporal Robert A. Martinez Post Office Building;

H.R. 5736, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Vincent J. Whibbs, Sr. Post Office Building;

H.R. 5857, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Morris K. "Mo" Udall Post Office Building;

H.R. 5923, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Dr. Leonard Price Stavisky Post Office;

H.R. 5989, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the John J. Sinde Post Office Building;

H.R. 5990, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Wallace W. Sykes Post Office Building;

H.R. 6078, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Chuck Fortenberry Post Office Building;

H.R. 6102, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Captain Christopher P. Petty and Major William F. Hecker, III Post Office Building;

H.R. 6151, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Hamilton W. Judson Post Office;

S. 1219, which authorizes certain tribes in the State of Montana to enter into a lease or other temporary conveyance of water rights to meet the water needs of the Dry Prairie Rural Water Association, Incorporated;

S. 1820, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Dewey F. Bartett Post Office;

S. 3759, which designates the Armed Forces Readiness Center as the Captain William Wylie Galt Great Falls Armed Forces Readiness Center;

S. 4050, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service as the Sergeant First Class Robert Lee "Bobby" Hollar, Jr. Post Office Building; and

S. 4073, which designates the outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs as the Robert Silvey Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic.
# # #

But today was the last day for Bush to sign H.R. 6429 allowing the money collected for the Esperanza fire families to go to them without taxation and that would allow the WFF and United Way to pass it on to them without risking loss of their nonprofit status. If Bush doesn't sign it today, and it looks unlikely, it's the same as a VETO. The bill dies.

Powerless

So yesterday afternoon the power went out around 4:30, but it came back on about a minute later. It was out long enough to have to reset all the clocks blinking 12:00; the stove, the microwave, the coffeemaker, etc.

But, a little after 6pm it went out and stayed out. Long enough to get out the candles and flashlights. Long enough to get out the old Princess phone and call Edsion to report the outage. Long enough to call Edison back and find out it was caused by a car accident and they have dispatched crews. Long enough to call Edison back again and remain on hold long enough to find out that you should empty helium from your party balloons because they can knock your power out if they hit your power lines and that they don't know how long the outage will last.

Long enough to sit in the dark and notice that nearly everything in your house is worthless without electricity. The television, satellite dish/box/internet. DVD Player. Lamps. Refrigerator. Freezer. Coffeemaker. Clocks. Dishwasher. Well (no water--no power for the pressure tank). Desk top PC.

Long enough to be thankful to have a wood stove and venture out in the cold night to bring in more wood and keep the fire going. Long enough to fill the oil lamps and get a fairly decent light in the room, yet wonder how people really read by these lamps before electricity.

And it was quiet. I realized how dependant I am on electricity in my daily life and how drastic it would change without it.

Sign The Bill Now!

An email that you can send to the President comments@whitehouse.gov follows:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please promptly sign H.R. 6429 into law.

In October, five federal firefighters were killed in the Esperanza arson fire that raged through Riverside County, California. Following that tragedy, the local United Way chapter and the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, and other non-profits, raised over $1 million for the families of the deceased firefighters.

Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Times reported last Thursday that IRS rules typically prevent 501(c)(3) organizations from raising money for specified individuals - and that the non-profits might even risk losing their tax-exempt status if they released these funds.

Faced with the prospect of having to return the contributions it had raised, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and United Way then asked the California and Idaho Congressional delegations for help.

Upon learning of this problem, the California delegation immediately introduced corrective legislation (S. 4112 and H.R. 6429), which was introduced Friday, 12/8/06. These bills were drafted to treat the Esperanza fire victims in the same way as 9/11 victims for whom contributions had been individually raised. In an act of prompt bipartisanship, H.R. 6429 passed both the House and Senate by unanimous consent before our adjournment sine die. Final passage took place in the Senate at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning, 12/9/06.

This bill is now on your desk for consideration. Although Congress acted with unusual dispatch, the non-profit organizations still cannot release these funds to the families of the fallen firefighters until this bill becomes law. With the holidays approaching - the families' first without their loved ones - we ask to you to sign this bill into law promptly, so that the outpouring of support from various donors can finally flow to the families of these heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice.

your name
your street addy
city, state, zip

Can It Get More Fun??

So, we're supposed to leave first thing in the morning for Lost Wages to meet friends for Cowboy Christmas shopping, visit Bass Pro, and just have some fun gambling, etc.

About a half-hour ago, Paul grabbed the flashlight and casually said to me that there was 'water on the floor of the bathroom this morning'. Water? I go in and look, never noticing anything at all today. I said, 'near the sink, shower or toilet?' and then realized he had gone downstairs.

The dreaded bathroom/laundry room downstairs. The bathroom I never use. So I go down there to see that the cold water to the washer is leaking. Friday night. Friday flipping night before our trip and he couldn't have remembered to tell me this morning? Wake me up at 6am or call me from work and tell me?

We can't get the damn faucet shut off. It's older than the desert itself and the pipes down there are the old galvanized pipes. We had to shut off the water to the house to stop the leaking and call my handyman. He's on his way and hopefully he can just cap the pipe so we can turn the water back on and deal with it next week. Heaven knows I don't need an excuse to not do laundry, but this would be a good one.

I am not happy with hubby right now. So if we do go to Vegas and only one of us comes back, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Right?

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Update: New cold water faucet installed. Water to the house back on. Hubby still alive.