RE: The 60 bil package is almost all pork. Someone posted it yesterday. It was insane.
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Boehner didn’t hold up the relief measure because he’s a mean man who wants the suffering to continue in devastated areas. He did so because the $60 billion was larded with pork-barrel projects unrelated to storm damage. Here’s a very short list:
• $13 billion for large infrastructure projects that we are assured would “mitigate” damage from future storms.
• $10.8 billion for public transportation, almost entirely for future projects, not disaster relief.
• $207 million for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Manhattan Medical Center.
• $199 million in tax breaks for rum makers.
• $188 million for upgrading, not repairing, Amtrak rail lines.
• $150 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide fisheries in Alaska.
• $100 million for a federal day-care program.
• $57 million for tracking debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami.
• $20 million for a national “water priorities” study.
• $8 million to buy vehicles and equipment for the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
Remember, this is just the short version of the pork list. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, says a bill that focused solely on Hurricane Sandy relief would be less than half of $60 billion.
That’s just the bill Congress should pass – with matching cuts in existing federal spending to keep down the deficit. That’s just the bill Congress would pass – were it run by responsible adults who could do sixth-grade math and who didn’t want to bequeath their children and grandchildren with crushing government debt.
But instead, most Democrats and too many Republicans just want to rev up the presses and print more money.
King and Cuomo are two peas in a pod.
Christie is just a plain big mouthed Chicago type thug...Who the hell would ever lower a flag to half staff for a druggie??
Most of that stuff is non-hurricane related pork, but the $207 million for the VA medical center is not. The medical center was heavily damaged by the storm, and has yet to re-open (I believe the plan is to re-open in March at the earliest).
That’s just the bill Congress should pass – with matching cuts in existing federal spending to keep down the deficit. That’s just the bill Congress would pass – were it run by responsible adults who could do sixth-grade math and who didn’t want to bequeath their children and grandchildren with crushing government debt.
But you can't pass that bill, because no democrats will vote for it, and apparently enough conservatives will reject it on principle that you can't get to 218 votes.
I live along the coast of NJ, 2 miles from the ocean and my town was hit bad. But - I would rather see that the time be taken to properly allocate what is needed rather than see a pork laden bill get pushed thru Congress just so they can feel good about themselves.
This is so easy, why cant they communicate this properly?