Posted on 11/07/2010 6:35:22 AM PST by Jerrybob
The following article, written by Bob Livingston, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee from 1995 to 1999, appeared in the WSJ on October 22, 2010:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304510704575562442197836742.html
The article is very good, but the following paragraph made the hair on the back of my neck stand up:
"Kill off Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other agencies that have done so much to destroy our economy. Zero out the budgets of all the unneeded 'czars.' Take away their offices, their hired help and even their parking places."
I've always known that "the House controls the purse strings..." but never fully understood or appreciated it.
As I understand it, it means that whatever budget is proposed, the House has the power to fund or not fund any, part, all or none of it; kind of like a line-item veto.
If this is true, then this is the key to killing ObamaCare.
If this is true, then conservatives everywhere ought to let their REPRESENTATIVES in the House (I say REPRESENTATIVES because that's what they are; they are not our LEADERS; they are in the House to REPRESENT -- us -- citizens; not taxpayers, not slaves, not subjects, not stupid people, not special interests -- us -- citizens) know that we want no part of ObamaCare. DEFUND IT. That's their power, that's what they are there for, that's really their duty. DEFUND IT.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
How may THOUSAND people are employed by the Dept of Energy? What do they do all day? I'd like to know. Rather than watching our cities cut firefighters, police and trash collectors who really DO SOMETHING for a living that BENEFITS people, let's defund some bureaucrats in Washington who do -- who knows what?!?!?!?
If enough agencies -- oh, like the IRS or the hated Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had their budgets slashed -- there might just be enough money to FUND local firefighters, police and trash collectors.
Having trouble thinking of which government agency you'd like to see have its budget slashed? This might help: Pick your favorite and contact -- better yet, make an appointment and go SEE your Representative face to face before he or she heads back to Washington and tell them how you would like them to represent you.
http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/Federal/All_Agencies/index.shtml
Conservatives won on Nov 2. Now let's get busy cleaning up Washington -- no, cleaning OUT Washington. Nancy Pelosi said she was going to drain the swamp. Didn't happen. We can make it happen.
if i recall, earmarks is what allow bad law to get pass. Obamacare didn’t pass the first round because earmark was not in it. When it was included, Obamacare was passed. The lawmakers were bought
“”http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/annual-records/2010”";
Let’s start here - $38,000,000 for 2010 WH salaries. Look at all the important titles. Let’s ask what they do!!!!
If it didn't happen then - in an arguably smarter and more conservative America - it's not going to happen now.
I can boil Livingston’s article down to two sentences. Hi I’m Bob Livingston former congressman turned lobbyist and I make my living off of earmarks so if they’re killed I will be out of a job. Please don’t do this because it would be mean.
And “I, too, cheated on my wife so I’ll resign and hope Clinton will follow my lead. But I know he won’t.”
If the Republicans want to give a massive boost to the economy they would get the biggest bang per buck by defunding the EPA.
Not at all. An earmark is just Congress designating a certain portion of a budget to a specific item. For example the Department of Education has a budget of ~$47B. From that amount Congress may designate $2MM for constructing a school in Topeka or an after school program in Sacramento. This allows Congressmen to give goodies to their home districts which is why it has a bad reputation. In fact, though, it gives more visibility to where our money is actually being spent rather than just giving a pile of money to bureaucrats who then spend it with little visibility.
Defund EPA, NEA, Health Care, all the czars would be a good start.
Bypassing Congress is where we first saw Obama tyrants at work. Now do we want to collapse huge entities like the Dept. of Education, which must happen, with only 1/2 of one branch of three branches of government, just because we can?
How about across the board cuts, and roll back (defund) damages so far. For instance, czars go now, like yesterday. The committees that empower them need to go too. Now that’s a decent start. Shrinking government will be successful only after we win in 2012, and a long slog it will be after that, realistically.
Precisely, earmarks don't cost a lot relative to the entire Federal budget. The real problem is that they empower log roll.
Precisely, earmarks don't cost a lot relative to the entire Federal budget. The real problem is that they empower log roll.
Defund all anti-freedom, anti-truth, anti-individual, anti-life collectives. We can start with international UNaccountable bureaucrats/totalitarians and/or their agencies/countries.
ACORN/GM/AIG/Fannie/etc., etc.
Whether external/internal...it’s 2010...time to stand up on your own.
The next time Amtrak and the USPS come crawling for fed money, sell them to the highest bidder and let private enterprise take over.
The problem with defunding "across the board" is that you may actually defund something that is worth the funds that it gets.
Yeah, the earmarks are peanuts. It’s the fact that they get the votes to pass the REALLY expensive pork like the Budget that makes them poison.
Doofus Dubya couldn't be bothered.
We are either one nation united through one official language. Or we're not.
Giving citizenship tests in a language other than English? That's an abomination.
Bilingualism is lovely; I do fine myself; but as an American, English is my language of choice.
Talk about having to clean up somebody else's messes...
The essential stuff can be reinstated.
I would defund the courts first, though. They have gotten too used to legislating.
The essential stuff can be reinstated.
I would defund the courts first, though. They have gotten too used to legislating.
Bump
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