O.K., we have no money for anything but wars in this country, and these guys are pushing through earmarks for their political benefit?
Our tax dollars are only slush-fund piggy banks for these corrupt Congress-critters!
Ugh! What a SHIT GOVERNMENT!!
Even Cut 50 Percent, Earmarks Clog a Military Bill
"Even Cut 50 Percent, Earmarks Clog a Military Bill" by MARILYN W. THOMPSON and RON NIXON
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 — 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.
Twenty-one members were responsible for about $1 billion in earmarks, or financing for pet projects... Each asked for more than $20 million for businesses mostly in their districts, ranging from major military contractors to little known start-ups.
The Warfare State is ALIVE and WELL! Thanks, DemocraPs!
The list is topped by the veteran earmark champions Representative John P. Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is the chairman of the powerful defense appropriations subcommittee, and Representative C. W. Bill Young of Florida, the top Republican on the panel, who asked for $166 million and $117 million respectively. It also includes $92 million in requests from Representative Jerry Lewis, Republican of California, a committee member who is under federal investigation for his ties to a lobbying firm whose clients often benefited from his earmarks.
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, requested $32 million in earmarks, while Steny H. Hoyer, the majority leader, asked for $26 million for projects in the $459.6 billion defense bill, the largest of the appropriations bills that go through Congress.
Some lawmakers complained that the leadership failed to address what it had called a “culture of corruption” in which members seek earmarks to benefit corporate donors.
Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, an earmark critic who cites the “circular fund-raising” surrounding many of them:
“Pork hasn’t gone away at all. It would be wonderful if this was a partisan issue, with Republicans on the right side, but it is really not. Many of these companies use money appropriated through earmarks to turn around and lobby for more money. Some of them are just there to receive earmarks.”
That's how pigs feed at troughs!
The Bush administration has complained that they waste taxpayer dollars and skew priorities from military needs, like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global war on terror.
Pot dialing Kettle: You're black!
The House version of the military bill includes 1,337 earmarks totaling $3 billion, the most Congressional earmarks in any of the spending bills passed this year. A conference committee is now reconciling House and Senate versions. The Senate added $5 billion in earmarks.
About half of the House military earmarks go to universities, military bases and other public institutions; the other half to businesses and nonprofits.... Democrats consider earmark reform a success.
Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Ms. Pelosi: "[We have significantly reduced their cost and brought] disclosure so constituents can see what their members have asked for. That’s one of the things we wanted to change, to bring more openness.”
And we wasted only half as much money, so it's all good, shit-chewers!
Mr. Murtha has drawn much attention this year, first as he bitterly opposed the legislation requiring disclosure of earmarks, then continued his habit of submitting dozens of requests, most benefiting his hometown of Johnstown, Pa. (He asked for 47 earmarks.) Two Republicans said he threatened to block them from getting any earmarks when they questioned one of his requests.
Murtha warned Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, who eventually received a written apology from the Pennsylvania congressman:
“You’re not going to get any, now or forever.”
And that's Pelosi's good buddy?
Adam H. Putman of Florida, the Republican Conference chairman, said Mr. Murtha’s behavior has been “like watching a throwback in time.”:
“He’s a classic old-bull appropriator, basically showing a level of arrogance in which he breezily dismisses House rules, dismisses public inquiry and defies the spirit of disclosure.”
About $111 million of Mr. Murtha’s earmarks are for businesses and nonprofits closely aligned with him. He recruits defense firms and jobs to his economically depressed district and often pushes earmarks for them.
Mr. Murtha, who declined to be interviewed for this article, told members in August:
“I don’t make apologies for having earmarks.”
Firms benefiting from Mr. Murtha’s help have given at least $437,000 to his campaign since 2005, with about $110,000 streaming in just before this year’s March 16 request deadline.
In recent weeks, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, a Johnstown-based nonprofit run by major contributors that has won $226 million in earmarks since 2004, has drawn attention, along with its sister operation, Commonwealth Research Institute, over whether Commonwealth paid a contract official for a no-show job while he awaited approval for an Air Force post.
The man, Charles D. Riechers, died in an apparent suicide after a Congressional committee raised questions about the payments.
Something fishy going on there, reader!
Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Hoyer each had 10 earmarks in the bill. Five of Ms. Pelosi’s earmarks went to companies in her district, as did six of Mr. Hoyer’s.
Ryan Alexander, director of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said the public deserved disclosure of the cost and purpose of each earmark. It is important, she said, to judge earmarked projects against other priorities, “particularly in a time of two wars and so many demands on our resources."
