C.T.
Let me start my rant with this. I guess I am what you call a true right wing, red to the bone, conservative of Burkean proportions. I am no RINO (Republican In Name Only), no where near a centrist, no where near a liberal, some might even say, no where near a Republican. Despite all that, I would hope that every person wearing any of the titles I mentioned above would be able to find common ground with me on this abusive, non-regulated spending that Congress has been up to for qutie sometime. I have just read through an article by Marc Sheppard, a contributor at the New Media Journal.us. Mr. Sheppard concentrated on the almost inane comments and claims of the illustrious Senate Majority Leader, Dingy Harry Reid. [1] I'm staying away from criticizing ole' Dingy or the Democrat Party. In my opinion, he is just the mouth piece for Congress, party affiliation has nothing to do with this one. What concerns me the most is the information about air-dropped earmaks. This is a relatively new term which came into existence about a year ago.
According to Brad Dayspring, a poster at the Republican Study Committee Blog, an air-dropped earmark by definition is “secretly inserted in back room negotiations between House and Senate appropriators. This means that these specific earmarks were not passed by either the House or Senate during previous consideration of spending bills, were not subject to a point of order, amendment or debate on the floor of either body questioning their merit.” [2] By my laymans understanding, if no legislative consideration is given to these appropriations, then they are illegal and amount to "taxation without representation."
Senator Reid went on to make this odd statement,
“We worked very hard on this bill. And any piece of legislation that we deal with, any appropriation bill, there are earmarks the president has. That's part of the deal.”
With no one in the gallery standing to challenge the peculiar gaffe, the Senate leader went on to suggest that Congressional pork was therefore necessary because “[the president] should not have total control over the appropriation process.” And, lest anyone in the crowd remain anywhere short of thoroughly bewildered, he added:
“So all this airdropping stuff--this is a new term that has just come recently. We followed the rules. No one raised a point of order when it was in the Senate.” [1]
C.T.
Basically, Senator Reid is making excuses. The President can make backdoor appropriations, so why can’t they? I hear this all the time from my kids, "Why can’t I do it if my brother is? It’s not fair!" Give me a break, this is what our elected officials are reduced to? They now possess a play ground mentality when it comes to our money? Congress, simply put, is trying to mask this blatantly immoral and adult mischief with juvenile rebuffs.
It is way passed time for the Congress and the President to stop playing games with our futures. They have obviously proven they are not capable of being adults and continuously try and pander to the American voting block with excuses rather than full disclosure and accountability of their actions.
Yes there is more. President Bush set a cap on the budget at 932 billion dollars. Well wait till you hear this one.
In fact, though, Congress used budget gimmicks and loopholes to fudge the numbers. Meanwhile, Senators and representatives piled on the pork by earmarking billions to more than 11,300 of their pet projects. Result: Lawmakers approved a bill that actually puts the government more than $20 billion over budget. [3]
Then this,
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid both recently dismissed a larger amount, $23 billion, as a “small difference” with the president.House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey(D-Wisc.)shrugged it off as “table scraps.” [3]
Table scraps eh? Roughly, half the worth of Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. This goes beyond partisan politics; this is about the accountability of the legislative and executive branches. If you are interested in a partisan slant, I highly recommend Mr. Sheppard’s article.
Coupling the childish mentality, described earlier, and the laissez-faire attitude towards this "small difference" amounts to a sad representation of the people we have sent to our legislative branch. This does not bode well for them. Is it any wonder Congress’ approval rating is in the toilet?
[1] New Media Journal
[2] Republican Study Committee Blog
[3] Heritage Foundation
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