Do you care about pork spending? What about payin' for gang tattoo removal?
By ladyluna
@ladyluna (7004)
United States
March 8, 2009 9:51am CST
Hello All,
I'm sure that many of you heard Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) comments about the
"chattering class" who "focuses" on bureaucratic bloat and wanton, wasteful spending. His exact quote:
"And let me say this to all of the chattering class that so much focuses on those little, tiny, yes, porky amendments, the American people really don't care," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "The American people care far more that there's a proposal in the bill, this one I pushed, that gives a $2,500 credit to families who pay tuition to put their kids through college. Great relief."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02102009/news/politics/schumer__americans_like_pork__154427.htm
So, is he right, or is he wrong?
Do you care?
Are you a "chatterer"? Or, are you of the mindset that you should just endorse your weekly paycheck to Chuck Schumer and the other legislators, and let them take care of all of our needs?
Does it matter to you that, despite the objections of a few, you are being required to pay for some of the most lame-brained idiocy imaginable?
And, that in many cases the nonsense that you and I (and our children and grandchildren, etc...) will end up paying for in Federal spending bills are the same bone-headed projects that locals refuse to pay for in their own state and local districts???
That's right, what typically happens is that hair-brained waste, like
"Swine and Manure Odor Treatment" programs are tossed out of state funding bills, because in a smaller purvue (state assemblies), with a more hands-on, accountable elected official (the governor) state legislators will typically be called to the mat for that kind of abusive nonsense. A consensus is typically reached among those state legislators that the wise people of Iowa have been farmers for far too long to buy into the snake oil promises of rosey smelling manure. So, the proposal gets tossed out of the state funding bill.
However, someone (typically from the originating state, though not always) stands to benefit financially from that lame-brained manure odor treatment project, so they clamp down on to it like a pitbull on a burglar's leg, and they resign themselves to start knocking on their federal legislator's door. This shameless peddling is called "lobbying".
Of course, our federal legislators similarly know that the people from these 50 United States are too smart to buy into the snake oil charms of rosey smelling manure, as well. Let's face it, everyone knows that manure is supposed to smell like manure, right? We can dose it with the best smelling au de toilet, and in a little while it's still going to smell like ... well ... crap.
So, a federal legislator agrees to take up the cause, in this case that federal legislator happens to be Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). For whatever reason (perhaps for an actual financial profit, a cut of the proceeds, for contributions to his re-election campaign, or for the promises of constitutent voter support) the federal legislator who agrees to 'push' for funding of the snake oil promises of rosey smelling manure begins to 'sell' the snake oil, rosey smelling manure idea to his cronies. They all scoff at the idea of rosey smelling manure, but agree to 'help' their fellow crony with his rosey smelling manure project, because he or she has their own rosey smelling rotting fish carcass project to push.
The guy pushing the manure project and the guy pushing the rotting fish carcass project get together and plot the only feasible plan of action. Clearly, no American is going to agree to pay for this crap (pun intended) on face value, so they scheme to hide the manure and rotting fish projects deep inside of another proposal that is so important that The People won't even bother themselves over the itsy, bitsy details contained within -- even if they add up to billions of dollars (yup, that's billions with a "B").
And, there you have it. Whether it's a train from Disneyland in California to the most famous "red-light brothel" in Nevada (Thanks Harry Reid) or $200.000.00 for tatoo removal in California (Uh, who gets to have their tatoo removed on the taxpayer dime anyway? Oh wait, it's gang-bangers who are slated to have their tat's removed on our dime!)
$200,000 Howard Berman (D-CA) has requested (GET THIS) that you and I pay for gang members to have their tattoos removed!
http://brendancalling.com/2009/03/04/call-11-howard-bermans-earmark-for-gang-tattoo-removal-updated-response-berman/
"And Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) gets his $1.8 million swine and manure odor treatment funding."
michellemalkin.com/2009/03/04/coburn-anti-earmark-amend... michellemalkin.com/2009/03/04/coburn-anti-earmark-amendment-fails-37-58-swine-odor-treatment-funding-lives/
[b]So, I ask again -- do you care? Do you care enough to pick up your phone and call your House and Senate representatives? 'Cause, this is just the beginning folks -- it's only the beginning of March. So, history promises that there's alot more 'spending' coming down the pike!
Senate switchboard: 202-224-3121 House switchboard: 202-225-3121 White House opinion line: 202-456-1111; White House switchboard: 202-456-1414[/b]
3 responses
@nzinky (822)
• United States
8 Mar 09
The only Pork I want to see is on my plate with a side orders of mashed taters and gravey and string beans......
Hey I didn't pay for those freaks to put tattoo's on themself so why should we have to pay for them to take them off...and what do I care about rotting fish I was alway told if something is rotten throw it in the trash and take it out.
And I don't care about the gustation of a grape......Congress can't you get real and worry more about what America was founded on.....And not how you can stuff more money in your pockets.....Don't you have enough already....
@ladyluna (7004)
• United States
9 Mar 09
Hello Vellebiz,
Who, pray tell, is NOT a pocket stuffer?
As for the eye-rolling excuse that "it's only 1%":
First, let us put this into perspective, 1% of a budgetary deficit that is double its immediate predecessor is still EXPONENTIAL GROWTH! Do you really want to go on the record as supporting the exponential growth of unsustainable, temporary, busy-work spending?
And second, are you really going to defend any 'ol, foolhearty endeavor designed to give a union worker a job? 'Cause, there's that whole dig a whole, then fill it back in thing.
"Studying pig odor gives somebody a job, erasing tattoo's on gangsters, has its obvious effects" Wow! Your expectation of "productive" is rather intriguing. Bill Clinton and the "Contract with America" Congress finally legislated "welfare to work" reform because anybody with half a brain knows that paying people to be unproductive is a terrible strain on any economy. As well, it is counter productive to the Human spirit.
So, how does taking $ from some Americans to give to other Americans, as well as non-Americans, to do busy work any different for our national productivity than welfare? Let's face it, an economy is based on productivity, not what makes us feel all warm & fuzzy inside.
@vellibiz (297)
• United States
9 Mar 09
lol america was founded by pocket stuffers, doctors, lawyers and farmers.
i think there was what 6 billion in pork in a 768billion dollar bill, correct me cuz i know im wrong.
thats less that 1% of the bill still, studying pig odor gives somebody a job,
erasing tattoo's on gangster's, has its obvious effects
all pork opens job opportunity we just dont know if its enough that matters, still this equals maybe 1% of the actual bill.
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
8 Mar 09
Thank you Luna. You did an amazing job articulating the process and the smoke and mirror aspect of all this. I hope even if people don't respond to this, they at least read it and gain an understanding with of what is wrong with our federal government.
Another side effect of this, is not only does this bloat the federal budget and exponentialy increase the complexity of bills and leave us, the people paying for stupid things in other states, but more dangerously, it has created a federal solutionary mentality. We are feeding the belief that it is the place of the federal goervnemt to take care of and fund all of this. And further and even more dangerous, federal money comes with strings, conditions and regulations, this increases the dominion the federal government has over state's authority, a thought that our founders would have been horrified at the mere suggestion of.
1 person likes this
@ladyluna (7004)
• United States
8 Mar 09
'Solution-alism' (not a real word folks) Yup, that's a fallacy that needs to be quashed with absolute immediacy!!!
If people really want government to coddle them from cradle to grave, they ought to at least be looking to their State government, which actually has the non-descript authority to pursue such abominable encroachments on personal liberty and individual responsibility. Whereas, it is a direct violation of our Constitution for the feds to be providing this stuff.
You're right, X. For each such encroachment we are setting new and ever more insurmountable set of precedents.
Great points, X! And, thanks so much for the kind words.
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
8 Mar 09
Yeah, there is a lot more spending coming, and China and Japan, and who knows how many more will be right there to provide the financing for this deficit spending.
While they may be able to claim they inherited all of this from Bush for a bit longer, soon people are going to realize that Bush and the Republicans had very little to do with the budget of the last 2 years All Bush did was either sign or veto the Bills that Congress came up with. That was all the democrats doing, and now they are front and center with no one else to hide behind any longer.
Yes I care, and Schumer has long been an out of touch elitist moron... like the rest of his socialist buddies in Congress.
I tried the email route to one of my Representatives a while back, and I got a computer generated boilerplate reply a little later... there was an attempt to personalize it, but it was from an autoresponder.
I think better results may be had be visiting the local office if we could ever catch them out of DC.. especially if many people, torches, pitchforks, and clubs were in attendance.
I think it is coming to that stage.
1 person likes this
