Area417

Surprise! Dems Made Entirely Of Hot Air

All those shiny promises about fiscal responsibility from the Democrats? Fuhgedaboutit.

One of the very few good guys (or gals) in government, Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK), issued this statement today:

 

Everyone in America understands that the federal budget contains vast amounts of waste, fraud and duplication. By blocking attempts to eliminate wasteful programs and possibly redirect those savings to more urgent priorities, such as veterans’ health care or HIV prevention, the majority leader is essentially declaring that the government is operating at peak efficiency and can’t be streamlined any further,' Coburn said. 

The continuing resolution (CR) measure, H.J. Res. 20, coming before the Senate protects 95 percent of earmarks in violation of the 'earmark moratorium' announced by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-WV, and Rep. David Obey, D-MI.

Coburn went on to list some CRAP our elected officials are cramming into the budget:

• $350,000 for the World Food Prize, an award for outstanding work in food assistance
• $1.5 million for construction of an entrance to the U.S. National Arboretum
• Over $1 million for alternative salmon products, including $450,000 for development of baby food containing salmon

Etcetera, etcetera. It's enough to make your head explode.

Source: Looks Like the Congressional Favor Factory for Earmarks is Back in Business

Dead Silence In Missouri

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 calls for a public database of entities that receive your tax dollars via Federal funding. You can read the text of the bill, S2590 (there are two versions) here.

Missouri taxpayers might want to contact Senators Bond and Talent and ask them why they aren't among the 29 cosponsors of this bill.

While we're on the subject, would you people in Alaska do the rest of us a favor and GET RID OF TED STEVENS! Citizens Against Government waste has the pork-filled Stevens profile here, where they note that Stevens has been holding up S2590.

Citizens Against Government Waste Highlights Wasteful Spending By U. S. Government

Citizens Against Government Waste have come out with the 2006 Pig Book, which gives details of this year's pork-barrel projects.

If you've been wondering how your hard-earned tax dollars are being spent, here are some highlights:

• $1,300,000 for berry research in Alaska
• $750,000 for multiflora rose control
• $4,200,00 for domestic shrimp farming
• $2,100,00 to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. wines
• $273,000 to implement "Garden Mosaics" (community gardens)
• $8,270,000 for breath alcohol testing equipment
• $1,000,000 for waterless urinals
• $100,327,000 in earmarks for Louisiana, most of which are not related to flood control or the repair of destroyed levees.
• $2,300.00 for the International Fertilizer Development Center
• $150,000 for the Actors Theater in Louisville, KY
• $100,000,000 for Even Start, a program that has failed to show educational gains

It goes on (and on, and on...)

Senator Coburn Continues The War On Pork

I love this...

The Club For Growth reports that Senator Tom Coburn "intends to offer an amendment on every pork project stuffed into appropriations bills this year. There were at least 13,998 earmarked projects contained in last year’s appropriations bills."

Votes on Coburn Anti-Pork Amendments

See all votes pertaining to HR 3058. Link: U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote Summary - 109th Congress, 1st Session.

*Previous posts concerning votes on the amendments were deleted, as was just easier to point you to the senate votes rather than record votes on each amendment.

Links: Club for Growth  Tapscott's Copy Desk PorkBusters (The Truth Laid Bear)

Update: I plan on checking how our Missouri senators voted on each amendment this weekend and will post the results.

Senator Boxer "Responds" to a Constituent

Senator Barbara Boxer replies to her constituent's letter concerning the Pork Busters project and  offsets to funding for Katrina. Perhaps someone in her office should have given his letters a quick read before responding.

But then, neither Senator Talent nor Bond have bothered to respond at all...

Pork Busters

You can check out the latest responses to the Pork Busters project here.

Sad to say that neither one of Missouri's Senators has bothered to respond.

Update:

I have sent a second email off to Senators Talent and Bond concerning budgetary offsets for hurricane relief spending; a copy of that letter follows:

As you may have heard, enterprising bloggers have started the Pork Busters project at http://www.truthlaidbear.com/porkbusters.php in order to identify areas that could be cut to help offset what will be enormous expenditures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. 

Surely there are projects that Missouri could cut back on. Perhaps now it not the time to spend $3,700,00 on a kennel, $150,00 in renovations for soybean incubation , $250,000 for a multipurpose center in Springfield, or $475,00 for the renovation of the Gillioz-Ronald Reagan Theatre. 

I found all of these and more at the Citizen’s Against Government Waste website, which may be found at http://www.cagw.org/site/FrameSet?style=User&url=http://publications.cagw.org/pigbook/pigbook.php3.

As your constituent, I look forward to hearing your plans on this matter so that I can post your response on my blog, www.area417.com, and on the Pork Busters site.