Today’s $410 billion omnibus bill easily passed the House today and was riddled with 8,570 earmarks. Assuming this passes the Senate and gets signed by President Obama, which it surely will, this will bring this year’s budget deficit to a whopping $1.5 trillion, over three times as high as the record 2008 budget set by the Bush Administration and Democrat Congress.
Among the goodies in the bill were
- $200,000 for a “tattoo removal violence outreach program,” in Los Angeles
- $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY
- $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Honolulu, HI
- $870,000 for the Red Wolf Breeding Facility relocation
- $143,000 for the American Ballet Theater in New York City
- $190,000 to the Chicago Public Schools for “educational enrichment” activities.
The list goes on. You can read the whole thing at Taxpayers for Common Sense. They have the full earmarks disclosure on their Web site and you could spend hours wading through it.
16 Republicans joined in on mortgaging our future to satisfy their own selfish, piggish gluttony. They are:
- Mary Bono Mack (CA-45)
- Ginny Brown-Waite (FL-5)
- Joseph Cao (LA-2)
- Shelley Moore-Capito (WV-2)
- Michael Castle (DE-AL)
- Charlie Dent (PA-15)
- Jo-Ann Emerson (MO-8)
- Jim Gerlach (PA-6)
- Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2)
- John McHugh (NY-23)
- Candace Miller (MI-10)
- Tim Murphy (PA-18)
- Dave Reichert (WA-8)
- Fred Upton (MI-6)
- Ed Whitfield (KY-1)
- Don Young (AK-AL)
Another nail in the coffin for Obama when he doesn’t veto these earmarks. Each day he gets exposed for the fraud he is.
I continue to find the focus on earmarks to distract from the true causes of the fiscal insanity of Washington.
Congress has been telling agencies how to spend money since the First Congress. Earmarking is a bad practice, but it still is only a small problem in light of trillions of unfunded liabilities.
If the right spent the same energy on explaining why unfunded programs are dangerous as people on the right focus on earmarks, we would be in a better situation to deal with the unfunded liabilities.
Ryan, I think you’re exactly right. I’d hate to be the pessimist, but I really think the die has been cast. We’re irreversibly screwed once the unfunded liabilities start to come to the fore. I think Professor Paul Kennedy is right: American power is on the wane. And we’re an empire in decline. What a depressing realization.
I’ve realized something! These people have their own agenda! What did the Writers of the declaration of independence say? When a government become destructive toward it’s people the people have the right to rebel. The Government is destroying our lives piece by piece. Now I won’t have any part os rebellion, but I will eventually run for office!
Michael… the government is not destroying lives without the consent of the voters. The voters want this. They are all against their earmarks until the votes come for the ones in their district.
Seriously? $7.7 billion out of a $410 billion bill? THIS is one of the major Republican issues? No wonder the American people see the GOP as out of touch.
I don’t understand how running around screaming “pork pork pork pork!” over $7.7 billion serves to help the country in a time of crisis. Earmarks are the least of our worries.
The whining about earmarks shows how shortsighted many on the Republican side have become. Instead of tackling the beast, they want to attack a few hairs on it and expect to make a difference.
You are right David, the American people has a reason to find these people insane.