Spending Bill Has $4 Billion In Pork

ABC News:

Just weeks before returning to their districts for Christmas, Congress is poised to give the gift of pork - roughly $4 billion of it.

More than 5,000 earmarks were included in the $447 billion omnibus spending bill passed yesterday by the House, funding "pet projects" of key members of Congress from both parties and all regions of the country. The Senate will vote on the bill this weekend.

Read the whole story: ABC News

Comments

[ericmiami]

06:32 AM on 12/15/2009

This is a nasty little man.

[CNYObamaFan]

07:20 PM on 12/14/2009

As far as I'm concerned, 90 cents of every dollar spent on "defense" is pork. But good ol' McCain here wouldn't be for cutting that pork, oh no.

[judesuper]

03:04 PM on 12/14/2009

Yes, every state in the union gets "pork", except Arizona. Arizona gets nothing because we have a nothing senator. He thinks pork is a bad word. However, pork generates jobs, builds bridges, corrects erosion and runoff from heavy rains, repaves roads, builds schools, hospitals and airports, etc.

But lucky us, get zero since mc drool is a zero and thinks pork is wasteful spending.

I on the other hand, think his salary is wasteful spending.

[LeftRight]

04:01 PM on 12/14/2009

Arizona most certainly DOES get pork. John McCain himself has sponsored it, though he calls it something other than pork when he does so. And don't worry, Jon Kyl does the same thing. So much so that Arizona is number 21 out of 50, with $1.19 coming back for every tax dollar you send to Washington­...

FWIW, Rhode Island is the only state that is neither donor nor donee, and they are 31 on the list...

[Manata]

05:29 PM on 12/14/2009

co-sign

[Yocepuc]

10:39 AM on 12/14/2009

Forget the Pork. The accompanyi­ng picture makes it painfully obvious that McCain needs more fiber.

[MOCONSERVATIVE]

10:29 AM on 12/14/2009

Whats up with the pic of Marlon Brando?

[workingliberal]

10:23 AM on 12/14/2009

I love how the Republican­s who have their own pork in the bill won't vote for it. Such hypocrites­.

[jsgaetano]

11:29 AM on 12/14/2009

Well, if you include something to get something to vote for it... and they won't... it should probably be taken out of the bill.

[OneConservative]

01:00 AM on 12/14/2009

Only $4 Billion? This should be trumpeted as success in reducing waste. This is completely sick. I cannot believe that they are spending us into a hole that we may never recover from.

My gut tells me there is much more than $4 billion in earmarks.

[LeftRight]

08:40 AM on 12/14/2009

Then go find them.... Here, I'll get you started:

http://www­.thomas.lo­c.gov

[aflyinyoursoup]

11:58 PM on 12/13/2009

What ever happened to 'Line Item Veto'?

[LeftRight]

08:45 AM on 12/14/2009

It was ruled Unconstitu­tional by the SCOTUS in 1998.

From Wikipedia (yes, I know they aren't great, but this is fairly accurate..­.)

"However, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan ruled on February 12, 1998, that unilateral amendment or repeal of only parts of statutes violated the U.S. Constituti­on. This ruling was subsequent­ly affirmed on June 25, 1998, by a 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Clinton v. City of New York. The case was brought by the then New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.

A constituti­onal amendment to give the president line item veto power has been considered periodical­ly since the Court ruled the 1996 act unconstitu­tional."

[Mike Keough]

11:43 PM on 12/13/2009

I think that's wonderful. Spending is indeed what we need right now. But if the Democrats do not strip every damned penny Joe Lieberman requests, right out of the budget, they are insane.

[OneConservative]

01:04 AM on 12/14/2009

This is actually the opposite of what needs to happen. Keynesian economics has proven itself a failure wherever it is tried.

The right thing to do is cut the size in government in half and bring the federal budget to the 1995 level. Once that is done, then you would cut taxes to get the private sector going again. It is a pretty simple formula that Coolidge, JFK, Reagan, and W Bush did. It has worked many times before and would work again.

[LeftRight]

08:45 AM on 12/14/2009

Says a man who supports Friedmanom­ics, which have FAILED, where Keynes SUCCEEDED beyond anyone's wildest dreams!!!!­!

[LeftRight]

08:47 AM on 12/14/2009

Oh, and as for cutting taxes:

Coolidge did it and created the bubble that burst in 1929.

JFK never did.

LBJ cut the top marginal rate, but at the same time closed many loopholes, resulting in an OVERALL TAX INCREASE.

Reagan did it and created the bubble that burst in 1987.

Bush did it and created the bubble that burst in 2008.

See any sort of a pattern here???

[LittleMittens]

09:59 PM on 12/13/2009

Please retire mr mcaine next year. The angry old white guy routine is over.

[judesuper]

03:06 PM on 12/14/2009

Excellent post little, I couldn't agree more. I'm trying to get this old T00L out of his perennial senate seat. Fanned!

[LeftRight]

09:51 PM on 12/13/2009

OH NOES!!!!! $4 billion out of a $1.1 Trillion bill!!!

That works out to be all of 0.36%!!!!!

[jsgaetano]

11:32 AM on 12/14/2009

Don't bring facts into this. Everyone knows facts are liberally biased things.

[LeftRight]

11:38 AM on 12/14/2009

I know, I know.... But it's SOOOOO much fun to see how they try to turn them around to equal the end of the world.....

[msjimmied]

09:15 PM on 12/13/2009

McCain looks like he is about to have a sow.

[bobo5]

05:23 PM on 12/13/2009

Metamucil will fix those cramps.

[dspencer3491]

04:00 PM on 12/13/2009

Can't tell if he has diarrhea or constipati­on. Either one looks convincing­. I am being completely serious, take a look.

[aflyinyoursoup]

11:00 AM on 12/13/2009

John, that photo of you is rather disturbing­.
May I suggest a stool softener..­..