Watching part of Mitchie's speech at the picnic thingy this weeked past. He indicated that he saved fish stocking programs BELOW TVA lakes as one of the benfits HE's provided Kentuckians. This, of course, is almost a complete lie.
Here's the real story. Trout are not native to most of Kentucky. The mountain streams where they once thrived have been almost totally ruined by mine acid drainage. However, cold water releases from beneath dams create an artificial environment for trout that last for miles below the dam. However, since trout cannot reproduce in most of these waters, the fishery depends on artificial stocking. (Hatchery raised fish). These fish, lacking virtual any of the instincts of wild born trout, are ludicrously easy to catch.
Raising fish in hatcheries is very expensive. Here enters the Federal government. Back in the 50's, that old goober John Dingell (D-MI) fgot a law passed for fisheries restoration to be funded by excise taxes of sport fishing equipment. The Dingell funds have ever since paid for stocking the tailwater fisheries in southern states. The rainbow trout hatcheries are FEDERAL, as opposed t hatcheries int he north that are paid for by the states.
What McConnell was trying to take credit for was saving Dingell funds from sequester. This is akin tio killing your parents and then pleading mercy from the court for being an orphan. He might have mentioned that if Rand Paul had his way there would be no Dingell funds, period. Fortunately for Paul, that is way beyond goober reasoning.
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