Patterico's Pontifications

7/3/2012

Lawmaker: I Approved That Evil Un-Environmental Fracking By . . . Pushing the Wrong Button!

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:41 pm



Well. If her intent was to push the red buttton instead of the green one, who are we to give effect to the button she actually pressed?

State House lawmakers have apparently accidentally legalized fracking in North Carolina, due to a deciding vote one Democrat says was a mistake.

Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, says she did not intend to cast the key vote that overrode the governor’s veto of the bill.  

The vote was 72-47, exactly the number needed for an override. Without Carney’s vote, the veto would have been sustained. 

Carney characterized her vote as “very accidental.”

Maybe it was.

Or maybe she had a change of heart after seeing that her vote was actually the deciding vote.

Carney pointed out that she has voted against fracking in the past, and said she spent the day lobbying other Democrats to uphold the veto of Senate Bill 820.

“And then I push the green button,” she said.

Just after the vote, Carney’s voice could be heard on her microphone, saying “Oh my gosh. I pushed green.”

Inexplicable, eh? Unless she did a bit of logrolling, and promised this unlikely vote in return for a favor from another lawmaker.

Absent a compelling confession, we’ll likely never know.

Which is why I claim that, for purposes of a publicly passed law, we have to go with what lawmakers actually do — and not what they later claim their intent was.

UPDATE: From 11B40 in comments, referring to the fact that the lawmaker’s buttons were red and green:

Please, someone tell me the woman doesn’t have a driver’s license.

89 Responses to “Lawmaker: I Approved That Evil Un-Environmental Fracking By . . . Pushing the Wrong Button!”

  1. “That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.”

    Patricia (e1d89d)

  2. and then Andy Griffith died

    thanks a lot Becky

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  3. here this is interesting

    The Republican-led North Carolina legislature voted to override Democratic Governor Beverly Perdue on the annual budget late on Monday, a state record 11th time in the last two years they have overturned her veto.

    wonder R powers activate! shape of a veto overide!

    form of a meerkat!

    what? So I like meerkats bite me.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  4. I think the Carneys of the world who are not related to Jay or to this Becky should get a subsidy to help pay for the lawyering if they want to change their name to something else besides Carney. Really, how much ongoing psychological damage, humiliation and embarrassment must the rest of the Carneys be expected to bear?

    elissa (41a9a3)

  5. “Carney” is, after all, a word for carnival hucksters. Clowns, cheats, frauds. A very suitable name.

    nk (875f57)

  6. And they say the Demos are the smart ones.

    AZ Bob (1c9631)

  7. Aloha. Maybe you missed the polls, bitch.

    pat (0833d4)

  8. Odd, three of the Democrat votes to override came from Mecklenberg County, containing Charlotte, half of their total.

    Plausible deniability?

    The Minority Leader(D) ensured the vote could not be reconsidered immediately upon her vote.

    Not. 11th override of Perdue veto. Obamatoxic.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  9. Only time will tell whether she stays bought.

    AD-RtR/OS! (2bb434)

  10. The natural gas industry should make a point to offer discounts to utilities in states that allow fracking.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  11. 12- You betcha. And in staters get the gas for half price.

    mg (44de53)

  12. Why is it always democrats that can’t vote properly? Was this a dimpled or a hanging chad?

    Ghost (6f9de7)

  13. The anti-fracking propaganda is a joke. Texas has been fracked like crazy over the past 50 years and has not suffered from polluted aquifers or any other bad side effect. On the contrary, the state has only benefited from this harmless technique.
    San Antonio derives 98% of its drinking water from the Edwards Acquifer, if it was polluted from fracking liquids it would be known by now as there have been thousands of oil and gas wells drilled over the years.
    Texas has years of data proving the safety of fracking regarding water supplies and the benefits of fracking in lower energy costs.

    jasond (0b7791)

  14. Anybody who can’t press the right button during a vote is too stupid to be a legislator. The only trouble is finding her a job that she’s isn’t too stupid to perform.

    Chuck Bartowski (c6bde0)

  15. Happy 4th of July!

    http://t.co/8uWT1nhr

    Colonel Haiku (e89718)

  16. Most electronic voting systems have a way to change the vote within the time period. I don’t know if I believe the story.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  17. A related story, showed how unpopular the fracking veto was, this was the only they could pull it off
    without ticking off the antifracking lobby too much,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  18. I met a liberal once who was against fracking. He had maps of liquid aquifers thoughout the us, and maps of areas that do fracking, and he used these maps as his argument.

    I told him of an alternative to fracking called hydraulic fracturing; explained the procedure, and he said “now see? Why don’t they do that instead?”

    Brandon (d777af)

  19. Brandon, that’s hilarious.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  20. Most electronic voting systems have a way to change the vote within the time period. I don’t know if I believe the story.
    Comment by SPQR — 7/4/2012 @ 7:37 am

    — “A longstanding house rule that disallows changing of a vote if the vote changes the outcome of the bill prevented Carney from correcting her electronic vote to reflect her intended position.”

    Icy (9651ff)

  21. Aww, and now the poor girl has to go to the White House and supplicate to Teh Big Stick.

    Icy (9651ff)

  22. Icy, that sounds like a post vote rule.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  23. In one of the last EPA test, they drilled past the aquifer, and consequently struck oil, they left that detail out of the report.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  24. Just after the vote, Carney’s voice could be heard on her microphone, saying “Oh my gosh. I pushed green.”

    Carney said she turned her light on, but Speaker Thom Tillis would not recognize her, so she went to the front to speak to him.

    “I made a mistake, and I tried to get recognized to change it, as people have been doing all night on other bills, and it was too late,” Carney said. “Because it would have changed the outcome of the vote.”

    Under House rules, members can change their vote if they’ve made a mistake – unless the change would affect the bill’s passage. 

    “I feel rotten, and I feel tired,” Carney said. “And I feel that mistakes are made constantly when people are tired. And I feel rotten about it, but I take responsibility for my vote.”

    As soon as the vote was cast, House Minority Leader Paul Stam used a procedural move called a “clincher” to ensure the veto override could not be reconsidered.

    Other House Democrats who voted for the override were Reps. Kelly Alexander and Rodney Moore, Mecklenburg; Rep. Bill Brisson, Bladen; Rep. Dewey Hill, Columbus; and Rep. Suzi Hamilton, New Hanover. 

    The Senate had overridden the veto on the fracking bill earlier Monday. The measure is now law. 

    Icy (9651ff)

  25. The can’t even be bothered to push a button correctly. They openly admit they don’t read the legislation they are considering. They act like bloated rulers with contempt for we peasants.

    Dustin (330eed)

  26. Her entire task is voting, and she can’t even do that right.

    Amphipolis (e01538)

  27. Don’t be hard on her. She fracked up, it happens.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  28. Meanwhile, enjoy what may be the last 4th of July as we know it. Unless we win this existential election.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  29. Greetings:

    Please, someone tell me the woman doesn’t have a driver’s license.

    11B40 (8c316e)

  30. They were missing the Obama button to vote “present” which of course would have been the color yeller = coward.

    stukinIL4now (2b4771)

  31. “you had one job. ONE job!” – All the other democrats

    Ghost (6f9de7)

  32. I have a question while we are on the subject. Some time ago a neighbor friend who is on the liberal side of things made a comment about people “having fire come out of their faucets” or some such as if this was an established and known fact and was the normative expectation with fracking.

    Now, I realize in theory it must be possible to contaminate an aquifer, and it may have even happened once, but I’m not sure if I can believe that even hungry children-loving conservatives who want to dirty the air and the water really want to have a glass of fire come out of their faucet.

    yes, I could spend a bunch of time trying to look this up, but why should I when I’m sure somebody out there in PP land already knows the topic pretty well. So, anyone care to (en)”light”en me?

    Thanks

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  33. It seems from the story like in North Carolina, you only need 60% to override a veto.

    It sounds like she realized this only after the vote closed.

    It seems like there’s a problem with these electronic votes. It may be just too easy, too fast.

    They used to vote by name – a roll call. I think in general legislators used to have a voice vote (whichever group the presiding office claimed won) – if that was challenged, or a certain minimum asked for a count, they could line up in two different locations, or you had a roll call vote.

    What was the thing that prevented reconsideration? Did she not realize the way she had voted until after that Parliamentary procedure?

    Sammy Finkelman (c08134)

  34. If she had been male instead, I suppose she could have claimed red/green color blindness?

    (Yes, I know it shows up in women, too, but at a much lower rate.)

    KarlL (943e0e)

  35. MD in Philly,

    I believe you’re referring the scene in the Oscar nominated (of course) documentary by Josh Fox Gasland. The film highlights the “evils” of gas well fraking, thus fire shooting out of the water faucet is part of it.

    However, a counter to that is the new documentary, Truthland, and the truth behind the supposed gas shooting faucet.

    The enviros love their (melo)drama…however,

    We have never had any instance of groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing — ever. For any fluid, frac fluid, to migrate up a mile, two miles to the water table is impossible. You are more likely to hit the moon with a Roman candle.

    – Elizabeth Ames Jones, Texas Railroad Commission [oil and gas regulatory body] (June 3, 2011)

    Dana (292dcf)

  36. Here’s the trailer for Truthland.

    Dana (292dcf)

  37. Comment by MD in Philly — 7/4/2012 @ 10:57 am

    Some time ago a neighbor friend who is on the liberal side of things made a comment about people “having fire come out of their faucets” or some such as if this was an established and known fact and was the normative expectation with fracking.

    Fire coming out of a faucet I guess would mean there’s so much oil in the water, it’s combustible!!

    I think before it reached that point, it would have a bad taste.

    Not to mention be considered a carcinogen.

    Now, I realize in theory it must be possible to contaminate an aquifer, and it may have even happened once, but I’m not sure if I can believe that even hungry children-loving conservatives who want to dirty the air and the water really want to have a glass of fire come out of their faucet.

    yes, I could spend a bunch of time trying to look this up, but why should I when I’m sure somebody out there in PP land already knows the topic pretty well. So, anyone care to (en)”light”en me?

    This is apparently a trope.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1558250/

    Note the 4th picture from the left. It’s a scene in that documentary (?)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GASLAND

    In a blog-post for Forbes magazine, Dr. Michael Economides, an oil and gas industry analyst and Chairman of the Board of XGAS, a natural gas firm, commented on the Gasland scene of “a man lighting his faucet water on fire and making the ridiculous claim that natural gas drilling is responsible for the incident. The clip, though attention-getting, is wildly inaccurate and irresponsible. To begin with, the vertical depth separation between drinking water aquifers and reservoir targets for gas production is several thousand feet of impermeable rock. Any interchange between the two, if it were possible, would have happened already in geologic time, measured in tens of millions of years, not in recent history.”[22] Economides claims that almost any “gas leak” from sources within and around a home has the potential to produce flammable tap water.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904060604576570771877713378.html?mod=WSJ_hps_PhotosModule_1

    Many water supplies in northern Pennsylvania have long contained methane, because of the area’s poorly constructed water wells and unusual geological features. But the contamination in Ms. Vargson’s well is among the first cases that state regulators have attributed to natural-gas drilling.

    I didn’t know anything about this, but I did a simple Google search for” and found this: (added some second level links)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRZ4LQSonXA

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U01EK76Sy4A

    http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

    http://www.nytexaminer.com/2012/02/flaming-faucets-fracking-joe-is-back/

    http://www.propublica.org/article/scientific-study-links-flammable-drinking-water-to-fracking

    http://www.realistnews.net/Thread-fracking-turning-your-faucet-water-into-fire-balls

    http://blog.heritage.org/2012/02/17/state-department-promotes-debunked-fracking-documentary/

    http://boingboing.net/2011/09/26/woman-lights-fracking-polluted-tap-water-on-fire-photo.html

    http://www.propublica.org/series/fracking

    Sammy Finkelman (c08134)

  38. Sammy the Equivocator strikes again!

    Icy (9651ff)

  39. Why is it always democrats that can’t vote properly? Was this a dimpled or a hanging chad?

    Amen Ghost, #14.

    AZ Bob (1c9631)

  40. It seems like there’s a problem with these electronic votes. It may be just too easy, too fast.

    Oh good grief, this is not Skynet. The responsibility for this solely belongs to the person elected to do the job. And that job includes being able to effectively use and implement whatever mechanism is in place to cast one’s vote – whether it’s raising one’s hand, calling “Aye”, or pushing a damn button.

    Let’s let people assume responsibility for their own actions, shall we?

    Dana (292dcf)

  41. teh Hermunculus
    liberal pups suckle on
    her hairy hind teat

    Colonel Haiku (25a82e)

  42. ==Let’s let people assume responsibility for their own actions, shall we?==

    Well, the problem with that, Dana, is that in some circles the mainstay tenet of conservative philosoply you described is not accepted as “operational”.

    elissa (9c0d0c)

  43. Twelve years later and the local (boca raton) admirers of algore, sKerry, Urkel and Wasserman -Schultz still rant about the butterfly ballot robbing Algore of the Presidency. Doesn’t matter that dem Theresa Lapore designed it or some of the elderly Hebrew NY transplants were too dim to figure it out. Of course Gore’s selected counties to contest were in control of dem political machines nor do libs complain about the efforts to disqualify military absentees ballots. Nor was it an injustice that weasels like Dan Rather at CBS called election for Gore in Fla. before the polls in the Panhandle in central time zone were closed and likely discouraged some people from voting. I figure 90% of my neighbors are idiots because of the bumper stickers they have used over the years. Especially the dipwad poll observer with the John Edwards for Potus one left on until she finally bought a new car or the other idiot in love with Biden for Prez. It got even worse with Obama. Oh, can’t forget that the SCOTUS selected Bush and negated efforts by the far left Fla. Supremes to ex-post facto election laws for Gore. I’m sure there will be an army of shysters available to sue on behalf of Obama this time also. And of course racist Florida opposes Holder’s efforts to prevent dead and illegals from being on the voter rolls.

    Calypso Louis Farrakhan (e799d8)

  44. UPDATE: From 11B40 in comments, referring to the fact that the lawmaker’s buttons were red and green:

    Please, someone tell me the woman doesn’t have a driver’s license.

    Patterico (feda6b)

  45. “Please, someone tell me the woman doesn’t have a driver’s license.”

    Patterico – Maybe she’s a blonde.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  46. …or maybe she just innocently goofed up. It happens to the best. I’m inclined to show her a bit of compassion – not throwing her vote for a deal and not blaming the machine, just human error. And she assumed responsibility.

    “I feel rotten, and I feel tired,” Carney said. “And I feel that mistakes are made constantly when people are tired. And I feel rotten about it, but I take responsibility for my vote.”

    Dana the Brunette (292dcf)

  47. Hey! I’m an excellent driver.

    Sarahw (c23a3a)

  48. I’m inclined to show her a bit of compassion

    I’m not, Dana. The whole point to a representative government is that we the people pay our representatives to study issues and cast votes properly. If it was late at night, then I wonder why the legislature is so inefficient that it has to work late into the night to get its damned job done.

    I’m glad she owned up to the error, but she failed in her basic duty.

    Chuck Bartowski (ccc828)

  49. I don’t disagree, Chuck, that she failed in her basic duty, however, my point is that on the surface it appears a human error that we are all susceptible to from time to time. Even those in positions of decision-making for the voters.

    Fortunately, she is up for re-election in November, and this is a potent blunder for the opposition to use against her. It will also give voters the opportunity to further assess her competence.

    Dana (292dcf)

  50. Sounds about as valid as “I peed on myself because I unzipped the wrong zipper.”

    Coastal Eddie (6f5427)

  51. Perhaps she can blame this on Theresa LaPore? 🙂

    The amused Dana (f68855)

  52. Never look a gift horse in the mouth!

    Now, vote her out for her incompetence.

    AD-RtR/OS! (2bb434)

  53. Thanks Dana.

    I loved the subtitles with the various people interviewed (e.g.- “retired, doesn’t care who he makes mad.”)

    “seeing is believing” doesn’t quite ring true anymore.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  54. Hey, Patrick; no blond jokes! When I still had hair, i was a blond.

    BarSinister (664312)

  55. Next time they should tell her to stamp her hoof once for ‘Yes’ or twice for ‘No’.

    Icy (0eb7f2)

  56. 50- Chuck has never made a mistake, ever. His glass house is full of stone piles waiting to be cast. John 8:7…. too bad Chuck wasn’t there or that unchaste lady would have received her comeuppance. Right?

    tye (a1a31b)

  57. tye, I am in 100% agreement with you. I totally forgive the lady’s mistake and wish her many more of the kind.

    nk (875f57)

  58. I suppose it is more honest than our current system of buying votes through corporate personhood, nk.

    tye (a1a31b)

  59. I suppose it is more honest than our current system of buying votes through corporate personhood, nk.

    That comment made no sense at all, as usual.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  60. tye, it’s good to know that you are okay with the procedure of fracking. Perhaps there is hope for you yet.

    Icy (0eb7f2)

  61. I view it more as the lady’s subconscious doing the right thing ahead of partisan politics.

    nk (875f57)

  62. 61- well you’re half right… it would not make sense to someone who doesn’t know how to read. Let me guess.. Liberty university grad?

    tye (a1a31b)

  63. tye, no, once again it is you who are incoherently expressing your half baked “ideas”.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  64. 50- Chuck has never made a mistake, ever. His glass house is full of stone piles waiting to be cast. John 8:7…. too bad Chuck wasn’t there or that unchaste lady would have received her comeuppance. Right?

    Never said I haven’t made a mistake, dumbshit. I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve faced the consequences for my mistakes.

    Just saying that if a person who is paid to cast informed votes on legislation can’t do that, then that person is unfit for the job.

    Perhaps you think that an incompetent person should keep his job?

    Chuck Bartowski (f712b6)

  65. You may not agree, but there was nothing equivocal about my statement.

    tye (a1a31b)

  66. Well, that’s one thing we cannot accuse Obama of. He never voted and he preferred Hamas money to corporate money.

    nk (875f57)

  67. tye, the statement was incoherent.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  68. SPQR – did you state that it’s comments were equivocal, or incoherent?

    JD (dfaa6e)

  69. tye is spewing the typical lefty “corporate campaign contributions influence votes” line. Apparently, in tye’s world no politician would ever vote for something that was business-friendly because — well, they’re evil, ya know; and it’s those sinister BRIBES, disguised as ‘campaign contributions’, that make up these politicians’ minds for them. No possibility that said politicians are actually voting for what’s best for the economy; no sir! If big business likes it then it MUST be bad for the working man and/or the common citizen. The world IS that black & white; tye IS the 99 percent; I work here is done.

    Icy (0eb7f2)

  70. Liar. He voted. And liar. No he didn’t.

    tye (a1a31b)

  71. 69- awww. Vocab lesson. Can you use a dictionary biff?

    tye (a1a31b)

  72. JD, incoherent of course. I guess the difference between “equivocal” and “incoherent” isn’t covered until eighth grade.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  73. Well her second largest campaign contributor was Duke Power, and seeing as they don’t run on unicorn dust?

    narciso (ee31f1)

  74. Icy, well the idea that corporate influence in politics is something unique to the post-Citizens United era is illustrative of their utter ignorance of history.

    I was recently in the Netherlands and toured several VOC buildings from the 16th century. Basically, VOC (the Dutch East Indies Company) ran the Dutch nation for several centuries.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  75. A thesaurus won’t even help you with this one, “tye”.

    JD (dfaa6e)

  76. Liar. He voted. And liar. No he didn’t.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 8:13 am

    — Speaking of incoherent . . .

    Icy (0eb7f2)

  77. I love pricking libbies’ balloons. It’s just that they’re so loose, they phsst instead of brawwk!

    nk (875f57)

  78. Well, nk, its not like tye is a challenge for a man of your skills… 😉

    SPQR (26be8b)

  79. 😉 , SPQR.

    I’m getting back vision, BTW. I might even be able to acquire the sight in six months or so. My eye doctor shoots. Once he found that the scope did not recoil into my eye, he discounted the transferred concussion from the cheekweld. Just something that happened, although a little bit early at age 55.

    I’ll miss the morphine and codeine. If I go back to criminal defense, it will be to try to keep addicts out of prison and into diversion/rehab. Those drugs are mean seductresses.

    nk (875f57)

  80. tye has fantasies about beating up women and projects them on those he feels inferior to (which is just about everyone).

    Chuck Bartowski (cb703e)

  81. 82- weird.

    tye (a1a31b)

  82. nk, I hear you my friend. Best wishes for further recovery.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  83. Not as weird as you suggesting what you did about me, tye.

    Chuck Bartowski (cb703e)

  84. Comment by Icy — 7/4/2012 @ 11:42 am

    Sammy the Equivocator strikes again!

    I just put a lot of links. I figured you;d get the whole spectrum of the argument.

    But really, what appears likely is that:

    1) It is possible that a natural gas well could leak and contaminate water.

    2) Such a leak has nothing to do with fracking.

    2a) except for the fact that with fracking, there’d be more natural gas wells.

    3) The contanmination would be near where the gas hits the surface and would be extremely local.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  85. very interesting information, thanks.http://www.scottwestern.com

    Dafne (c331eb)


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