Posted on 12/01/2001 5:47:52 PM PST by Elkiejg
The DemoRATS are starting a campaign to try and blame President Bush's tax cuts for the recession. THEY LIE!! They are all guilty of "pork" spending. Below is an article from Citizens Against Government Waste dated November 2001 which shows just some of the money grabs by Congress. Since both DNC & RNC are guilty, it will be up to us, the taxpayers to DEMAND they stop!!
Beltway Special Interests lead the Nov. 2001 porkers!!
After 9/11, President Bush and Congress moved rapidly to dip into the Social Security surplus for $40 billion in emergency spending to cover rescue and cleanup costs and bolster defense. Since then, to its credit, the administration has repeatedly pointed out that $40 billion is a huge sum and will take months to spend, therefore obviating the need for more immediate emergency spending. Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels cautioned that, "With a little imagination, any straight-faced advocate can recast his pet program somewhere under the inviting headings of war, recession, or disaster recovery." The president has also promised to veto bills that exceed the total budget of $686 billion agreed to on October 2, but it remains to be seen whether he can stem the flood of appropriations.
With billions up for grabs, the special interests have come out of the Washington woodwork to ask for every conceivable subsidy, loan, or tax break. So far, these interests have pushed for more than $400 billion in proposed post-9/11 government spending. For taking advantage of a national tragedy to lobby for handouts, and attempting to divert crucial resources from national defense during a time of crisis, CAGW names the Beltway Special Interests Porkers of the Month for November.
The first two culprits are two quasi-government agencies, Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Both were wrought with waste well before 9/11, and both see in the terrorism bailouts a chance to get into the black and forestall real reform. Thanks to intense lobbying, Amtrak, a model of government inefficiency, could receive tens of billions of new federal dollars. Amtrak hasn’t turned a profit since its birth in 1971, and since has received more than $23 billion in taxpayer funds, including $360 million last year alone. Paradoxically, Amtrak responded to the post-9/11 increase in riders and revenues by asking for more subsidies. Since 9/11, Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) has proposed to not only give Amtrak billions more, but to postpone its 2003 deadline for financial self-sufficiency.
The Postal Service has also seen 9/11 as a cover to bail themselves out of big deficits on the taxpayers' tab. The government monopoly has asked for $5 billion in emergency payouts, a sum large enough to cover new security needs and erase most of its pre-9/11 loss of $1.65 billion. This new request is particularly vexing, coming as it does, from an agency with more than $1.4 billion in waste and mismanagement as identified by its own inspector general. By forgoing the $197 million it paid in corporate executive bonuses last year, USPS could easily afford the $40 million it is going to cost to sanitize the mail. Instead, USPS is seeking not only a bailout, but to raise first class mail rates by another three cents, ignoring the real causes of its financial deficits.
Quasi-government agencies aren’t the only ones with their hands in the federal cookie jar – private industry is guilty too. The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) receives the over-inflated ego award for declaring, "Without travel agencies, the nation’s travel industry cannot function." Travel agencies have, no doubt, been hurt by 9/11, but their business was weak long before due to more efficient, less costly online ticket agents like Expedia and Priceline. ASTA is asking for $4 billion in federal loans and loan guarantees.
Other tourism industry operatives are looking to get a taxpayer-financed boost, too. The American Bus Association wants $1 billion, claiming the "U.S. motorcoach industry is in an economic crisis." Sen. Byron Dorgan’s (D-N.D.) American Travel Industry Stabilization Act (cost: $5 billion) and Rep. Alcee Hastings’s (D-Fla.) corresponding legislation, the Ancillary Airline Industry Relief Act (cost: $4 billion), would fund these requests.
Taxpayers would be naïve to think the steel industry would miss out on an opportunity to increase the $500 million in government subsidies it already receives. The industry has asked for increased duties on international competitors and indicated it wants an additional $10 billion in grants and loans.
Finally, there are the "economic stimulus" packages being paraded around Capitol Hill. The worst has to be Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-W.Va.) vague plan to add $20 billion to appropriations bills for public works. (How much will go to paving the rest of West Virginia?) Runner-up is Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) $27 billion infrastructure plan, which includes $5 billion requested by the highway lobby for roads and bridges and $300 billion for ferry terminals.
For attempting to pad their bottom lines at the expense of taxpayers and national security, CAGW awards its November Porker of the Month to the Beltway Special Interests.
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And unless Bush gets of his lazy affable behind and does some serious in-depth economic analysis nad explaining, the Democrats will get away with it.
In July, the Senate passed the FY 2002 Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development (VA/HUD) appropriations bill with 256 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) earmarks totaling $137 million. Then came the conference report. CAGW and budget hawks were hoping that in this time of crisis Congress would refrain from loading up the report with additional pork. No such luck. The conference report has 802 earmarks totaling $294 million. With an estimated cost of $1 billion per month to fight in Afghanistan, these earmarks could fund more than a week’s worth of freedom fighting in Afghanistan. Here are some "national priorities" that Congress is funding while our soldiers are at war, which President Bush should consider as he decides whether to sign or veto the bill:
Taxpayers Left Out in the Cold, Alaska. Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) earmarked $2.25 million for the city of Fairbanks to provide winter recreation alternatives to military and civilian residents. Sen. Stevens might just have asked federal taxpayers to send their old sleds and ice skates up north.
Leadership Has its Privileges, Missouri. Senate VA/HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.) earmarked $12.5 million in CDBGs for his home state, including: $1 million for the City Market renovation project in Kansas City; $1 million for the University of Missouri-Kansas City Life Sciences Initiative; and, $250,000 to the city of St. Joseph for redevelopment of its downtown area.
We Have Enough Bull, New Mexico. Cowboys, cotton candy, and kicking bulls must be on the mind of VA/HUD Appropriations subcommittee member Pete Dominici (R-N.M.). The senator earmarked $1 million for infrastructure improvements and for a new multi-purpose room and event center for the Dona Ana County Rodeo and Fair. YEE-HAW!
A Real Kick in the Grass. Even though soccer is the most popular sport in the world, Congress should not be appropriating money for local fields. Lancaster, California which just so happens to be in the state of Senate appropriator Dianne Feinstein (D) received $740,000 to complete the Lancaster National Soccer Center. This is one appropriation that deserves the red card.
Not-so Bravo, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Appropriators are taking taxpayers to the cleaners, and the theater. Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont are slated to receive a total of $1.1 million for the refurbishment of theaters and performance centers. Although some theaters may be historic, preserving the past probably took a back seat to preserving their starring role on Capitol Hill for VA/HUD Appropriations subcommittee member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Appropriations Committee members Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.). President Bush, Start Your Veto Pen. Congress revved up its engines to appropriate $190,000 for the Motor Racing Museum in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the home of Senate appropriator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D).
CAGW, the nation’s largest taxpayer advocacy group with over one million members and supporters nationwide, is dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.
CCAGW CALLS FOR REAL STIMULUS PACKAGE, CUTTING THE PORK
Washington, D.C. - With the economy this week pronounced to be officially in recession, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today called for the U.S. Senate to pass an economic stimulus package and hold the line on new spending and pork-barrel programs.
"Monday's announcement that recession is here should give Washington a real wake-up call. On behalf of CCAGW’s one million members and supporters, I ask that the Senate immediately pass a true pro-growth stimulus package and send it to the president as soon as possible," CCAGW President Tom Schatz said. "The time for playing games is over. The House did its part and passed a stimulus package weeks ago that provides new incentives for businesses to expand and hire new employees."
"So far, the Senate leadership is not walking the walk, they’re pursuing their pork," Schatz also said. "Subsidizing the processing of chicken manure into energy while saying agricultural waste is vital to national security is outrageous. Securing billions of dollars to expand Amtrak, fund highway enhancements, or to bail out bison meat producers will do nothing to stimulate the economy. The current Senate bill should be rejected by the president."
CCAGW also expressed solidarity with Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels, who has come under withering attack recently from the congressional "Tax-and-Spend Caucus" for refusing to kowtow to its demands. The Perennial King of Pork, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.VA.), has even refused to meet with Daniels, apparently hoping to intimidate or embarrass him into submission.
"Mitch Daniels is standing at the door of the 'OK to Spend Corral,'" Schatz added. "He and the president need backup from taxpayers to fight off the big spenders."
"With the unemployment rate at 5.4 percent, it is time for the Senate to get serious," Schatz concluded. "The truth, which has eluded the Senate to date, is that investors, entrepreneurs, and businesses are the ones that create jobs, not the government passing out more unemployment checks or creating ‘make-work’ programs. It’s time for the Senate to be responsible and stop playing pork-barrel politics with the economy."
Totally agree - but we need to keep the pressure on the WH so he knows we are aware of what is going on in D.C. and he has our support to use the veto. Hopefully if Mark Raicot (sp?) is in fact the new head of RNC, we will be a more forceful speaker for the Administration than Gilmore was. If his performance in FL during the 2000 election debacle is an indication, he should do just fine against lier McAwful.
The Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees Annual Training Conference November 26-30, 2001 Memphis, Tennessee
WOW! What a revelation that is!
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