Yesterday the watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, released its annual report on where your tax dollars are going. Its report is aptly named the Pig Book- since it highlights all those wonderful earmarks known in political parlance as pork.
For those who don't know, these are appropriations of monies that are "added" to congressional bills that sneak through cash to a congressman's/senator's favorite home local project. Let me give you a hypothetical example, say you are a senator and sponsor a bill that you want me (another senator) to vote for. Here comes the extortion, I ask for a (relatively) small amount of money say, 10 million, to go to remodel a local community center in my state. I vote for your bill, it passes, my community center gets remodeled and I look like a hero to my constituents. Win-win right?
WRONG.
This is our money that these criminal bastards are spending like a teenage girl with daddy's credit card! This year 17.2 BILLION* of our tax dollars disappeared this way.
Click here to read the Pig Book in .pdf.
One of my favorites is :
$3,000,000.00 earmarked by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) to go to ...wait for it......wait for it...
"...promote character development and life enhancing values through the game of golf" (Pig Report pg 21)
Can I get a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
"life enhancing values through the game of golf"
I suppose it is imperative to teach the youth of our country the value of wearing plaid pants that would make a pimp blush.
ACK! My head hurts!
And, in case you were wondering how our 3 presidential candidates did in the senate:
Clinton: $300 million in earmarks
Obama: $100 million in earmarks
McCain : $ 0 dollars
John McCain happens to be a staunch opponent to earmarks (one redeeming quality I suppose) and in fact said,
“I believe that this book[Pig Report] should be read by every citizen in America…What is being done here by CAGW, in my view, is of the greatest importance. My constituents…need to have these concrete examples of the way that business is done here in Washington, D.C., unfortunately, and the only way it’s going to stop is when it’s exposed"
Amen.
*Granted, in the grand scheme of the things our government does, it pales in comparison. Just so you understand the scale, this would foot the bill for the Iraq war for a mere 50 days.
No longer an intern (The Salt Lake Tribune, 7/6/13)
10 years ago
11 Comments:
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'After fighting in horrendous battles with death all around him, Marcus Aurelius wrote about how to use reason and logic, how to control one's emotions, and how to practice self-mastery. He urged piety, not pride: “Be just and temperate and a follower of the gods (gods ... indeed ... perhaps he was a member of the group which preceded MJ-12); but be so with SIMPLICITY, for the pride of modesty is the worst of all.” Aurelius’s well–known aphorisms such as “Man is worth as much as what he is INTERESTED IN is worth”—have served as both solace and guide to innumerable readers for many centuries.'
Ear marks are a symptom. Cure the disease, change the INTERESTS, and the symptom will resolve.
The Democrat party is predicated on taking money from industrious hard working people and using it as 'they' see fit (usually doling it out to the lazy and unmotivated in an effort to secure their vote). The republicans are not perfect in this respect, but they are the best alternative. Strict constructionist judges are the only way to reduce governmental expansion, and the republicans are the only viable option to change the judiciary.
The interests are, in this case, re-election. The only sensible "cure"(shy of public hangings) would be campaign reform and term limits.
Until that happens, STOP SPENDING MY TAX DOLLARS ON FURTHERING YOUR OWN CAREER! Millions of dollars to "beautify" a road in some backwater town or an airport which serves about 9 people a year is ridiculous.
You will be happy to know that your home state led the way in pork dollars!
This occurs on both sides of the aisle! This is, in no way, attributable to the Democrats.
This is money they are spending that satisfies at least 2 of the following criteria:
• Requested by only one chamber of Congress;
• Not specifically authorized;
• Not competitively awarded;
• Not requested by the President;
• Greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous
year’s funding;
• Not the subject of congressional hearings; or
• Serves only a local or special interest.
Ted does get a little carried away at times, but if you want to make an omelet you have to crack a few eggs ;)
The republicans grift a little, but the Democrats have grossly distorted the entire fabric of our government. They have institutionalized and codified the whole 'Robin Hood' paradigm. Why do all the illegal immigrants, NAPAs, and the like vote for them (yes - illegals vote with the illegal DLs that the DEMs get for them!!!)?
We need some Clint Eastwood-o-typal supreme court judges to say that 95% of the stuff that the government is into is not constitutional. Cut this sh*t off at the knees!
If you vote Democrat you might as well drop out and get a job slinging lizards ...... the pay will be about the same !!
By the by,
'The interests are, in this case, re-election. The only sensible "cure"(shy of public hangings) would be campaign reform and term limits.'
in my humble opinion --- WRONG ----
re-election is a means to an end. The interests are: wealth, power, and young interns (intern = certified fellatio technician). Self gratification and self aggrandizement are closer to the mark.
Lou,
I can always count on you to opine in your usual fair, balanced, and politically correct way! ;)
I am constant as the Northern Star, and just as bright. We are inexorably linked with a common purpose - illumination :)
The only viable choice is a third party vote. As long as these 2 criminal parties feel that the only problem they have is that not enough people vote or that people vote for their twins in the other party, we will not have change.
The difference between the parties is only in the way that they rape us. Such a choice is indefensible.
A third party ...... brilliant ...... that way we will have 3 sh*t choices. We could have 6 parties and it would not change the situation. It's like giving tylenol for a MI .... 2 didn't work so you shove another 4 down the gullet.
We can't change human nature, so to get a different result we need to modify the paradigm. The key is to determine the motivators (explore the drives), and eliminate the coveted secondary gains.
Many of the significant changes in US politics came about because the 2 primary parties were comfortable ignoring the issue.
When they lose significant support, change happens.
It is not the only answer, but possibly the one they would pay most attention to.
Tim-
panem et circenses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses
oooooooo
test
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