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What Do Politicians Love More Than A Drop Dead Deadline For The Passage Of Legislation
Like kids in a candy store, when our politicians know that there is an immediate need to get a bill passed, they will load that bill up with everything up to and including the kitchen sink. Most of the time this pork for the people back home is buried in a place in the bill where it can go unnoticed. Not this time because this is just to damn important.
Economic Stimulus Package
The bill that they are working on now was approaching $1 trillion mark, supposedly designed to provide funding for "shovel ready" projects that would stimulate the economy and put people back to work.
The amount of money that has already been allocated to this economic crisis is staggering with TARP, TARF and all of the rest. If these politicians want funding for their constituents for a bridge to nowhere or for a kids center with their name on it, bring it into the light of day and substantiate why the project is necessary.
The taxpayers are not here to pave the way for your political schmoozing of the people in your state or district. This bill is way to important, and for a change resist the temptation to feather your own nest!
Earmarks are not the sole property of Democrats or Republicans, but for right now the Democrats are driving the bus. The emotions regarding this bill run so high however, that you actually have Democrats criticizing other Democrats.
What is an earmark? Earmarks typically target spending at a particular city or region, industry or contractor, often on the basis of political clout (ProPublica). An earmark can be in the eye of the holder, and the politician inserting it will have no problem telling you why it was justified.
Here are a couple of examples from the stimulus package:
House Democrats removed $200 million dedicated to Washington's National Mall, as well as a provision extending Medicaid to family planning. Senate Democrats pulled a $75 million for programs to help smokers quit out and $400 million to fight HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
For a change it would be great if the lip service of politicians could really match their actual actions. Remember your catch phrase in Washington: "It's not about Wall Street but about Main Street."
Cut the crap and pass a potential fix for a problem that you are complicit in creating!
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