Posted By Bobby Eberle On February 16, 2009 at 7:25 am
The massive government interference and spending bill known as the stimulus package has passed Congress and awaits President Obama's signature. Throughout the legislative process, it was disheartening to see just how much was spent on earmarks. Remember when the Democrats took control of the House, and Nancy Pelosi vowed to reform earmarks?
Now, during this debate, the arrogance of the left-wing Washington elite was taken to a new level. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) actually spoke before Congress and said that the American people don't care about wasteful earmarks. President Obama stood before the American people at his primetime press conference and said the bill has NO pork at all. Come on! Let's take a look at how wrong he really is...
First, we have Chuck Schumer... During a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer said, "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."
Are you kidding me? Of course we care. The problem is that Obama's rhetoric of hope and change was replaced by gloom and doom. They were told that if the stimulus bill did not pass, the world would end. It was a great pitch line and the perfect opportunity to play off the fears of Americans and load the bill with massive wasteful spending.
Next, we have the man himself... President Obama. During his primetime press conference, he said:
Give me a break. Not one single earmark? If he says so, it must be true, right?
Thankfully, there are several organizations that are doing a great job in revealing what the stimulus bill is all about. The National Taxpayers Union has posted an extensive list on the billions of dollars wasted on non-stimulative spending.
How about half a billion dollars for "forest health and wildfire prevention"... or another half a billion dollars for "NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD"... or another half a billion dollars for "SSA National Computer Center in MD." The list goes on and on and on.
As noted on its web site, StimulusWatch.org "was built to help the new administration keep its pledge and to hold public officials to account." The organization does this by "allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects."
In the many pages of the web site, visitors can find projects in their states and track how the money is being spent.
Billions and billions and billions of dollars to do something the American economy can do on its own. The last time we had this much government interference and misguided spending to "fix" the American economy, it took a world war to get us out of it.
Are you kidding me? Of course we care. The problem is that Obama's rhetoric of hope and change was replaced by gloom and doom. They were told that if the stimulus bill did not pass, the world would end. It was a great pitch line and the perfect opportunity to play off the fears of Americans and load the bill with massive wasteful spending.
Next, we have the man himself... President Obama. During his primetime press conference, he said:
It also contains an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability so that every American will be able to go online and see where and how we're spending every dime. What it does not contain, however, is a single pet project, not a single earmark, and it has been stripped of the projects members of both parties found most objectionable.
Give me a break. Not one single earmark? If he says so, it must be true, right?
Thankfully, there are several organizations that are doing a great job in revealing what the stimulus bill is all about. The National Taxpayers Union has posted an extensive list on the billions of dollars wasted on non-stimulative spending.
How about half a billion dollars for "forest health and wildfire prevention"... or another half a billion dollars for "NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD"... or another half a billion dollars for "SSA National Computer Center in MD." The list goes on and on and on.
As noted on its web site, StimulusWatch.org "was built to help the new administration keep its pledge and to hold public officials to account." The organization does this by "allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects."
In the many pages of the web site, visitors can find projects in their states and track how the money is being spent.
Billions and billions and billions of dollars to do something the American economy can do on its own. The last time we had this much government interference and misguided spending to "fix" the American economy, it took a world war to get us out of it.
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Wasn't this an emergency of such catastrophic proportions that it had to be dealt with immediately, if not sooner? So....why is it taking four days from passage to signing? Seems to me that if it was an emergency of the magnitude it's been made out to be, wouldn't Obama have been standing nearby, pen in hand, to sign this poor excuse for a stimulus bill as soon as it was passed?
In my personal opinion, it had to be passed immediately to take our minds off the questions of what happened, who's responsible, and what did they get out of it. If you noticed, not much has been said recently about the causes of this breakdown, just what must be done to fix it. Maybe our Congresscritters don't want us to think about the whys and wherefores because we might think about that during the next election cycle. The Dems will be running on the platform that they had to fix the mess the Reps left. Let's not mince words. There's plenty of blame to go around. Everyone in Congress has some responsibility for this mess, but there is not one person willing to step up and say, "I knew what was going on and I should have done more." Oh, you'll find some who will say that they were doing just that but no one would listen. Maybe so. I still say everyone had a hand in it, some up to the shoulder.
I won't even go into whether or not it's pork laden. Unfortunately, the definition of pork is subjective. What you and I might believe is pork might be something my other reader believes is the very thing necessary to get the economy up and running again.
Now if you want something that will really stimulate the economy, with an immediate start just go here..
In my personal opinion, it had to be passed immediately to take our minds off the questions of what happened, who's responsible, and what did they get out of it. If you noticed, not much has been said recently about the causes of this breakdown, just what must be done to fix it. Maybe our Congresscritters don't want us to think about the whys and wherefores because we might think about that during the next election cycle. The Dems will be running on the platform that they had to fix the mess the Reps left. Let's not mince words. There's plenty of blame to go around. Everyone in Congress has some responsibility for this mess, but there is not one person willing to step up and say, "I knew what was going on and I should have done more." Oh, you'll find some who will say that they were doing just that but no one would listen. Maybe so. I still say everyone had a hand in it, some up to the shoulder.
I won't even go into whether or not it's pork laden. Unfortunately, the definition of pork is subjective. What you and I might believe is pork might be something my other reader believes is the very thing necessary to get the economy up and running again.
Now if you want something that will really stimulate the economy, with an immediate start just go here..
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