Pork R US....

Discussion in 'Financial Cents' started by Clyde, Mar 15, 2007.


  1. Clyde

    Clyde Jet Set Tourer Administrator Founding Member

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    Mar 14, 2007 3:42 PM (14 hrs ago)
    by Charles Hurt , The Examiner

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    (University of Georgia)
    Congress loaded up more than $20 billion in

    WASHINGTON - Congress has loaded up President Bush's request for "emergency" spending on the Iraq war with more than $20 billion in "pork" for members' districts.

    Money for peanut storage in Georgia, spinach growers in California, menhaden in the Atlantic Ocean and even more office space for the lawmakers themselves is included in what has ballooned into a $124 billion war bill. "
    This emergency supplemental bill has more ornaments hanging over our many branches of government than the White House Christmas tree," Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said.
    Originally, Bush asked for $105 billion in emergency funding. Democratic leaders say they want to grant the request to continue funding the war despite their desire to end it.
    "We have provided all of the money the president requested- and more :sick:," boasted House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer.
    That includes $74 million for peanut storage, $25 million for spinach growers and $100 million for citrus growers.
    It also includes $16 million to convert the old Food and Drug Administration building in southwest D.C. into more office space for the Capitol. That "emergency" expenditure comes at a time when taxpayers already shell out $600 million "more than double the original estimate" for a mammoth expansion of the Capitol, which includes 160,000 feet of new office space.


    This is getting so old. :sick:
     
  2. Bear

    Bear Monkey+++ Founding Member Iron Monkey

    The truth is who knows where exactly it all really goes.... as outrageous as it sounds here in this article... I bet the truth is even more outrageous....

    Like highway funds and social security trust funds.... oops... roads are in disrepair and benefits can't be paid..... where's the money?... oh it was diverted somewhere else.... isn't that illegal?.... um... yeah... but its not there anymore so we have to raise taxes to fund it again.... where did the original funds go?????.... ummmmm...... we need to raise taxes and print more money... it will be fine.... economy is fine.... everything is fine.... don't worry.....

    Hmmmmmm........
     
  3. MicroBalrog

    MicroBalrog Monkey+++

    As much as people like getting upset about the annual bridge-to-nowhere stories (we have them in the desert here, too), the big elephant in the room is NOT the bridge to nowhere stuff. The big elephant is the 'legitimate' Social Security programs and the welfare. They're the number one spending item in most modern 'democracies', including the US.

    They are also the cause of the systemic problem.

    They must be addressed BEFORE you address bridges to nowhere.

    To quote an underrated American writer:

    "Go straight to the heart of the enemy's greatest strength. Break that and you break him. You can always mop up the flanks and stragglers later, and they may even surrender, saving you a lot of effort."
     
  4. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Read more of L. Neil Smith's reflections and observations here http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2006/tle379-20060806-10.html
     
  5. MicroBalrog

    MicroBalrog Monkey+++

  6. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Worthwhile reads
     
  7. MicroBalrog

    MicroBalrog Monkey+++

    I own two of his Star Wars novels (don't remember which), Forge of the Elders, Lever Action, Nagasaki Vector, and Pallas. I've had 'Probability Broach' but I lost it.

    Oh, and of course Henry Martyn.
     
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