There are all sorts of outrages these days, from massive ones down to lil itty-bitty irritants. The screen-shots you see above are Google Earth representations of the congressional earmarks (those that are known) in this year's Defense Appropriations Bill.
And that, Gentle Reader, qualifies as one of the most egregious outrages to come down the pike since...um... last year's Defense Bill. To wit: 1,776 earmarks in the Defense Appropriations Bill, totaling some $1.8 billion. The final tally isn’t in yet, and I’ll bet that $1.8b figure is low. But the real kicker, for me, is this:
Even though members of Congress cut back their pork barrel spending this year, House lawmakers still tacked on to the military appropriations bill $1.8 billion to pay 580 private companies for projects the Pentagon did not request. (emphasis mine)
It’s very hard for me to express my anger and contempt in civil language. More to the point, just get the Google Earth plug-in and see if your blood pressure doesn’t elevate to alarming levels. Or maybe it’s not a good idea if you’re already on some sort of blood-pressure meds. If that’s the case, then stay away.
FWIW…it doesn’t look like my representative brought home the bacon. But I have NO idea if my senators are guilty or innocent, as the Senate doesn’t have the same sort of transparency (yeah, right) the House does. But you can bet your nether-regions an e-mail or two are going off to Ms. Bailey-Hutchison and Mr. Cornyn ASAP. Not that I expect an answer much beyond “thank you for your interest in…” But: ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Wanna know if YOUR congresscritter was at the party with a lampshade on his/her head? Click here.
You can get the Earmarks “kml” file for Google Earth here. If you don’t have Google Earth, you can get it here.
I noticed a Pennington Biomedicial Research Center down on the Gulf. Any relation?
ReplyDeleteYou are right - this sort of thing is enough to drive anyone over the brink. I was listening to some public radio station yesterday talking about the upcoming farm bill saying that cotton farmers get most of their profit from the government. I realize that the farm subsidies are way out of line, out of date, and cause the tax payer mucho moola. On the other hand, when the Soil Conservation guys offer money from the government, who is going to turn it down. Same with education. Then people become dependent on that money... what a vicious cycle.
The one good thing about our congressman John Boener(pronounced Bay-Ner) R-Ohio, the Minority Leader of the House...he basically told his west Ohio constituants..."if you want me to bring home pork...vote me out". He doens't and we keep voting him in......so despite him being a moderate conservative, while I am a flaming hard right loon....he still gets my vote.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder why it takes so long to get a bill passed. Meanwhile we have enlisted troops that are having to work two jobs to make ends meet for their family! I was one of them from 1976 through 1981, when I finally made just enough rank to get us by. The sad thing is that things haven't changed that much. An E-5 with children still qualify for Food Stamps. Sad but true.
ReplyDeleteLou sez: noticed a Pennington Biomedicial Research Center down on the Gulf. Any relation?
ReplyDeleteNot that I know of...but I should check. Rumor has it there's good money in that racket.
Pat: I like Boehner. A bright spot in an otherwise dismal field of business-as-usual congresscritters.
Dale: I was one of those guys, too. But SN1 tells me things aren't as bad as they look these days. Once you get beyond SSgt one makes pretty good money in the military these days. At least the senior Os and Es, anyway.
You said it right after I thought it ... "Maybe looking deeper is NOT a good thing for my blood pressure".
ReplyDelete