Both pledged to eliminate pork spending A lot of this is budget request which should be put in their budget but they are by passing the process
Speaker Pelosi’s Payoffs and Pork Bill
H.R. 1, “The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently found that the cost of the Pelosi-Reid stimulus package now exceeds $1.1 trillion. CBO also estimated that only 7 percent of infrastructure money would make its way into the economy by the end of the year and only 38 percent would be spent by the end of the 2010 fiscal year. Senator Jeff Session’s (R-Ala.) office estimates the actual number going to tangible road and bridge construction is just a little more than 3 percent.
Where is this money going to? A not exhaustive look at the 1,588 page legislation, H.R. 1, “The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009” shows the bill is more payoffs and pork then stimulus. Many thanks to the website readthestimulus.org and its participating organizations.
PAYOFFS
To the “Green” Lobby
$600 Million To Buy New Cars For Government Workers (Page 89)
These cars would be “green” friendly cars – however very few gas pumps have the right gas to run these cars.
The Federal government already spends $3.5 billion a year.
$10M for bike and walking trails (Page 65)
$200M for plug-in car stations (Page 31)
$400 million for NASA scientists to conduct climate change research (Page 22)
$800 million to clean up Superfund sites (Page 122)
$600 million for grants for diesel emission reduction (Page 119)
$650 million for “alternative energy technologies, energy efficiency enhancements and deferred
maintenance at Federal facilities” (Page 119)
$1.5 billion for construction of “Green Schools” (Page 176)
To the Unions
$1 billion to the controversial COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES COPS Hiring
Program
“$150 billion in new federal spending, a vast two-year investment that would more than double the Department of Education’s current budget. The proposed emergency expenditures on nearly every realm of education, including school renovation, special education, Head Start and grants to needy college students” Sam Dillon, “Stimulus Plan Would Provide Flood of Aid to Education,” New York Times. January 27, 2009.
NOTE: Private and religious schools are excluded.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/education/28educ.html?_r=1
To the Abortion Industry
Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) inserted in the original bill billions of dollars for family
planning groups, including the abortion giant, Planned Parenthood. Pressure and public exposure from Congressional Republicans forced the Democrats to remove such funding from this bill. However the bill still provides billions in reforming the health care system and working towards nationalized health care – with little to no debate.
$2.7B in NIH grants which would be targeted to among other things embryonic stem cell
experimentation. (Page 56)
Other Special Interests
$3 Billion for Prevention & Wellness Programs, Including $335 million for STD Education and
Prevention -- Recent government expenditures in this area include a transgender beauty pageant in San Francisco that advertised available HIV testing and an event called “Got Love? – Flirt/Date/Score” that taught participants how “to flirt with greater finesse.”
$83 billion for the earned income credit for people who don't pay income tax.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html
$246 million for Hollywood http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cda_20090127_9337.php
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (Page 122)
$75 million for smoking cessation (Page 148). This contradicts the latest version of SCHIP that is funded largely by new taxes on cigarettes.
$4.19 billion open to ACORN. The Pelosi-Reid bill makes groups like ACORN eligible for a $4.19 billion pot of money for “neighborhood stabilization activities.”
MISCELLANEOUS PORK
Some of the biggest winners in the package are federal agencies:
$54 billion will go to federal programs that the Office of Management and Budget or the Government Accountability Office have already criticized as "ineffective" or unable to pass basic financial audits. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html
$462 Million for Equipment, Construction, and Renovation of Facilities at the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) (Page 137)
$150 Million for Repairs to Smithsonian Institution Facilities (Page 128)
$44 million to the Agricultural Research Service (Page 135)
$227 million for oversight of the pork barrel spending in the stimulus (Page 11)
$1 Billion for The Follow-Up To The 2010 Census (Page 49)
Discretion is given to governors and Mayors for how to spend a large chunk of the money. The U.S. Conference of Mayors recently sent Congress a $96.6 billion wish list of "shovel-ready" projects which now could be funded by the stimulus. These projects include: “$1 million for annual sewer rehabilitation in Casper, WY; $6.1 million for corporate hangars, parking lots, and a business apron at the Fayetteville, AR airport; 28 projects with the term "stadium" in them; and 117 projects mentioning landscaping and/or beautification efforts. The taxpayers should be most teed off at the 20 golf courses included in the list.”http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=1083&org_name=NTU
13 comments:
Anyone who supports this will have the destruction of our country on their hands.
Meanwhile Obama has withdrawn charges against the bomber of the USSCole, Nashiri, and leaves many wondering if he will also withdraw the charges against Mohammed and other 9/11 plotters held in Gitmo. Democrats are also trying legislate gunownership with ornerous regristration processing ,revive the fairness doctrine which will squealch free speech (especially from conservative right leaning people) and eliminate anonymity in Union voting. Obama voted against the born alive infant protection act, even after hearing testimony from a nurse that witnessed this horror many times, he voted against this FOUR TIMES. Be proud Democrats.
Be very proud and patriotic Democrats and my vote goes to the person in Congress that introduces a bill that all registered millionaire Democrats pay twice their annual income taxes, payroll taxes, and sales taxes, etc. to foot the bill for this pork as the registered Independants and Republicans. Once that is passed maybe I'll stop writing to Congress to stop this bill.
Heard on Fox News that it is losing steam but will most likely be passed in some sort. The problem is, EVERYONE piles on, making it so thick, noone wants to read it. What happened to less pork? I thought that was a promise that special interest groups wouldn't get what they want.
Anon845 - As a fed gov't employee I say ROCK ON!
I don't see a single item on that list that won't create jobs. Which is the point of this bill to begin with. There is no pork, by definition, in this bill.
Anon845 - As a fed gov't employee I say ROCK ON!
It looks OK to me. It could be better, but it will likely achieve dual goals of stimulating the economy and getting some needed things done (e.g. increased scientific research funding -- Bush was really bad for science).
There wasn't pork in it when Obama sent it to Congress.
However, the Republicans got their "compromise" to cut proven programs for women and children that have been true economic benefactors for ages.
Small amount of the whole package, but hey, cuts for women and children first.
The entire bill is a piece of pork designed to start "stimulating" the economy in 2-4 years....when everyone's up for Re-election-DUH!! All those in favor of this bill, please sign the back of your paychecks and mail them to the IRS otherwise shut up...It would be more useful in my pocket generating jobs and sales not only in the local area but on things I want. I don't want more beauracracy and repairs to the Smithsonian, CDC-which are not here in Salisbury, and I don't want to spend money on the Bricks here in Salisbury-DO YOU GET ME NOW?? The All-Knowing Gov't didn't know how to prevent this, didn't see the warning signs and now wants to fix it-Incredibly dumb of you to believe they can.
I find it amazing that we will no longer torture terrorists out to destroy this country but funding has been approved for world-wide help in killing of unborn innocent children!
Tha AntiChrist is now in Control!
What I love is that each "title" includes (as a final item) an amount in the millions and some in the billions of "yet to be determined" and "miscellaneous" expenditures.
Now that's REAL PORK!
You should pass my stimulus plan instead of Obamas. If you really want to stimulate the economy give all of this money to the tax payers. In turn they will pay their house payments and stop foreclosures, buy new houses with the down money. buy cars and other needed items which in turn would make the stores and manufacturers so busy there would be more jobs.
What more could you ask for. NOW THAT WOULD BE THE BEST STIMULUS PACKAGE EVER. But no BIG CHANGE OBAMA want to do the same thing give it big business, banks and financial institutions so they can get bigger bonuses and take more expensive vacations on our tax money. Why to go DEMOCRATS.
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