I was reading this post at Wake Up America about the $606 billion dollar spending bill that President Bush, in perhaps his first moment of fiscal clarity since his tax cuts, vetoed and was so stunned by every aspect of it that I went numb for hours before I could write anything about it.
First, I'd like to say to President Bush: Welcome back to the GOP. I've supported him on the war on terror but he's been spending money on other things as if he was Teddy Kennedy at a Moroccan whore house. It's one of the big reasons Republicans like me couldn't seem to find our checkbooks to support the party during last year's elections. If he and the other Republicans back in Washington don't get a grip on this issue soon they can all practice saying "Madame Comrade President". It's nice to see these lines drawn again. It is the job of the Democrats to promise to fund everything forever (see: John "A Pony For Every American" Edwards
Next, I painstakingly went through the pork items listed in the post before checking out reaction in the MSM. My first stop was my local newspaper, The Los Angeles Times (a big city paper with a circulation of about fourteen), and found its article titled, "Bush vetoes education, spending bill." A quick check of some of the other usual suspects found that this was the general theme of the story now. According to the MSM, it wasn't a bloated bill with more pork than a new Britney Spears video, it was a bill that would have funded "education" and "health." This is a convenient ploy which enables the Democrats to avoid discussion of the $10 billion or so in pork by focusing on things we need to do for the children.
Here are some of the health and education items in the bill.
Chuck Schumer (D-Tantrum) and Mrs. Clinton wanted almost half a million bucks for "Jazz At Lincoln Center." I kind of feel good when listening to jazz so I guess that makes it "health" spending.
Occasional Republican Arlen Spector (R-Back Stab) wanted almost $900,000 for "abstinence education and related services." Sen. Spector is invited to my house any time. I'll show him how easily I can say "Don't have sex," to my daughter at a cost of $0.00. It's ironic, spending almost a million dollars on abstinence can make you feel like you've just been screwed.
This one really caught my eye: "$1,000,000 for Bismarck State College for an instrumentation and control training program for the energy industry." This is about as vague as Christopher Dodd's (D-No Shot) reasons for still being in the race. I believe it's a fancy way of saying "We want to teach people how to work the 'On/Off' switches at the windmills." They'll no doubt seek additional funding next year to teach workers where the sun is when installing solar panels.
The list goes on, with Republican and Democrat offenders sprinkled throughout. Heads up people, this is the kind of crap Congress pulls when they think we're not paying attention. They take a bill that has necessary funding as its purpose, sneak in ten billion dollars worth of "No Sex Jazz at the Energy Industry" and pray that you won't notice. Since this particular bill has Medicare and Medicaid funding in it they were sure the president wouldn't veto it. They're not merely playing politics with your money, they're doing it with your health this time.
My hope is that every member of Congress attached to this porky mess gets voted out of office so he or she can find something in the private sector they're good at.
Like bank fraud.
Cross posted at Grizzly Groundswell and Real Clear Politics (Vote for it!)
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