Early this morning we turned back the clocks…a week behind schedule.
Did you realize that?
Prior to 2006, Daylight Savings Time ended on or before October 31st, but child pedestrian deaths on Halloween were four times higher than any other night of the year. Plus, candy manufacturers had been lobbying lawmakers for years for that extra hour of daylight to give kids more time to collect their wares.
So, beginning in 2007, Daylight Savings Time was officially extended to the first Sunday in November in the United States.
For candy.
Ultimately, yes, it also saves children’s lives. But candy is the motivator. Kids want candy. Parents want candy (don’t lie). And the candy companies want everyone to get as much of it as they want.
Without getting hit by a car, of course.
It’s particularly interesting when you consider other companies — like Amtrak, for instance — stop everything for Daylight Savings Time. When the clocks are turned back at 2am, the overnight trains stop wherever they are on the tracks and wait for that hour to elapse. Because Amtrak trains don’t run off-schedule.
It just goes to show you — people will wait for a train. But don’t make ‘em wait for their M&M’s.
Some party
Happy Birthday, 14th Amendment.
Or that’s what some lawmakers contend.
Assistant Minority Leader Rep. James Clyburn said that if Congress doesn’t agree on a long-term deal by the deadline, President Obama should sign an executive order raising the debt ceiling — a move justified by the section of the 14th Amendment that reads “the validity of the public debt … shall not be questioned.”
Some constitutional scholars don’t agree. It didn’t sound like the President did either during a town hall Friday at the University of Maryland. And the Treasury Department holds firm that only Congress has the legal authority to extend the U.S. borrowing authority.
Hear that, Congress?
Stop trying to pass the buck. That 143-year old bill isn’t going to let you do nothing, and then later point the finger at the audacity and legality of a Presidential executive order.
Do your jobs. Make it work.
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Posted in Commentary, Education, History, Life, News, Politics
Tagged 14th Amendment, Bill of Rights, birthday cake, birthday candles, commentary, Congress, Constitution, constitutional scholars, debt ceiling, debt ceiling deadline, do your job, due process, executive order, happy birthday, history, James Clyburn, lawmakers, life, make it work, news, politics, President Obama, public debt, town hall, Treasury Department, University of Maryland, US borrowing authority, US Treasury