House Democrats unveiled a $410 billion spending bill on Monday to keep the government running through the end of the fiscal year, setting up the second political struggle over federal funds in less than a month with Republicans.
The measure includes thousands of earmarks, the pet projects favored by lawmakers but often criticized by the public in opinion polls. There was no official total of the bill’s earmarks, which accounted for at least $3.8 billion.
In case anyone cares (contrary to what Clueless Chucky Schumer says), that’s a bill comprised of 93% pork.
The legislation, which includes an increase of roughly 8 percent over spending in the last fiscal year, is expected to clear the House later in the week.
Democrats defended the spending increases, saying they were needed to make up for cuts enacted in recent years or proposed a year ago by then-President George W. Bush in health, education, energy and other programs.
So now they want to pluck money from our wallets to “make up for” cuts that only ever made it to the proposal stage? Yes, pesky taxpayers, we must now have your money to fling at pork projects because George Bush talked about
Fresh off a grueling budget battle in his state, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Saturday that if fellow Republican governors threatening to turn down stimulus funds follow through on their pledge, he’d be happy to have their share.
“Everyone has their own way of thinking,” Schwarzenegger said of those governors in an interview with POLITICO at the National Governors Association’s annual meeting. “I just hope they give me their funding.”
Run for governor on a platform of fiscal responsibility (after the last governor was booted for an extreme lack thereof), stand at the helm while the ship continues to sink, then step on the heads of the American taxpayer as you desperately scramble not to go down with the S.S. California.
For the life of me, I can’t understand why it is that that Mexican truck program didn’t fly with the American people - especially with this sort of example.
A federal investigation into the crash of a Houston-based charter bus has revealed what is believed to be a scheme to move Mexican-made motor coaches illegally into the U.S. through Texas using a Dallas-based firm, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board told the Houston Chronicle.
Details of the practice used by at least one Houston bus company and how the method points to holes in the way buses are inspected and registered are expected to be the central focus of an NTSB hearing that begins in Washington, D.C., today into the Jan. 2 crash near Victoria.
And while there were no apparent mechanical problems with the Mexican-made bus involved in the crash, federal safety officials are concerned because they have uncovered nearly two dozen buses imported and registered in violation of federal regulations.
“One of the reasons why we’re holding the public hearing is to understand the complex process to register this vehicle,” said Deborah Hersman, NTSB board member. Authorities want to know how the bus owner got the vehicle registered when it should have been rejected, Hersman said.
Hmmm…that is truly a head-scratcher right there. I mean, if illegal immigrants can get their hands on Social Security cards, drivers’ licenses, register to vote, and green cards, then certainly vehicle registration isn’t far behind, right?
RSS
