Needed: An English-Democratic Party Dictionary?

This past week in Washington, DC has seen the GOP actively engaged in discussions and strategizing about taking back the House of Representatives and taking back the Senate.  But before the GOP, Tea Party, or anyone else, can take back the House or Senate, they will face a more difficult and important battle–taking back our language.

Democrats have made an art form of mis-speak, consistently showing only a passing familiarity with good, old Merriam-Webster.  Think Kafka and Orwell, where words are elastic, and plain-speaking is all but abandoned.

Understanding what President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are saying is difficult; for, though the language may seem to be English, in reality, they speak a different language, the language of the Democrats in DC.  To understand exactly what they are saying, Americans need an “English –Democratic Party Dictionary.   Here is a sampler of some of the most important words and phrases that cause confusion:

• INVESTMENT: President Obama and Speaker Pelosi frequently talk about the need for “investments”. For example, ” President Obama recently identified a need to invest in American infrastructure (and education)  What Mr. Obama and Nancy Pelosi really seem to mean when they talk about “investments” is that government needs to spend more.  Democrats  have learned from extensive polling that disguising calls for more government spending, and even greater national debt, are more palatable (to those that have not yet figured out the scam) if,  they talk about spending as  “investments”.  As most Americans know, making an investment  implies a return worthy of the risk.  Investors always want their money back and a profit to boot.  Fat chance of that!  According to the Democrat-version, “investments” are just spending by another name.  There will never be a return, and taxpayers putting their money are risk will never get their funds back, nor is there any chance of a decent return.

(more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, critical infrastructure, entitlements, federal spending
Posted Feb 22nd 2010 at 8:57 am in Congress, Culture, Earmarks, Healthcare, Obama, Politics, Tea Party, Uncategorized, federal spending | 7851490 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2010/02/22/needed-an-english-democratic-party-dictionary/Needed%3A+An+English-Democratic+Party+Dictionary%3F2010-02-22+16%3A57%3A37Lurita+Doan

The Insignificance of the CPAC Straw Poll

The enthusiasm at this year’s CPAC was palpable.  Conservatives turned out in record droves, optimistic and on the offensive against a government they rightly feel has run amok.  Dick Cheney and John Bolton amongst others predicted that Barack Obama would be a one term President.  I would take a more cautious view.  Beatable as I think President Obama is based upon his bombastic arrogance, blind elitism, blatant dishonesty, and boundless seemingly intentionally destructive policies, if the 2010 CPAC straw poll tells us anything it is that the conservative movement is still searching for its opponent.

Before delving into the numbers, it is important to note that while roughly 1/4 of the 10,000 in attendance at CPAC participated in the poll, around 50% of these voters were students.  And indeed the youthful Campaign for Liberty crowd was highly visible and energized throughout the convention, which explains the extent of Congressman Ron Paul’s success.  Paul, the staunch libertarian came in first with 31% of the vote, Mitt Romney the establishment candidate second with 22% and Sarah Palin the (absent from CPAC) Tea Partier third but lagging significantly behind at 7%.

What is fascinating about the results is that the top three spots were split between three different types of conservatives, and further that the top two spots were divided between two candidates so bipolar.  In my view, Ron Paul comes off as unrefined, radical and principled, while Mitt Romney comes off as polished, moderate and slickly political. Sarah Palin alternatively is the homey if not hokie populist.

(more…)

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Tags: Ann Coulter, Barack Obama, Congress, conservatives, CPAC
Posted Feb 22nd 2010 at 7:01 am in Uncategorized | 77846259 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/amellon/2010/02/22/the-insignificance-of-the-straw-poll/The+Insignificance+of+the+CPAC+Straw+Poll2010-02-22+15%3A01%3A06Andrew+Mellon

Changing the Healthcare Paradigm: A Physician And Patient Centered Approach

I have been reading various articles and listening to pundits for months talk about healthcare reform. They have discussed ad nauseam everything from complete government takeover with single payer on one hand to free markets on the other.

Next week, we will be witness to the President’s healthcare forum. This is what we know so far:

• Tort reform is pretty much off the table.

The trial lawyers lobby has seen to that.

• There seems to be no political will to apply anti-trust regulations

This will continue to benefit the health insurance industry since they will be able to continue to run fiefdoms in various markets guaranteeing their market share and profits.

• The public option is really NOT an option.

If it does get implemented it will be a glorified version of Medicare Advantage where the program is administered by the insurance companies. A particularly sweet win-win situation for them since it means we will have to pay them whether we want private insurance or not.

• More taxes

We will be paying money into a governmental black hole for the next 4 years in the hopes that we will get inexpensive, comprehensive health coverage in the end. I have just two words about that – Medicare and Social Security (enough said).

• If you don’t like your insurance too bad

People who don’t like their private insurance plan will not be able to access the exchange system.

We are at a crossroads.

(more…)

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Tags: Congress, Controlling healthcare costs, health insurance, Healthcare, Politics of healthcare
Posted Feb 18th 2010 at 8:41 am in Congress, Economics, Healthcare, Obama, Politics | 7702694 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/egeorge/2010/02/18/changing-the-healthcare-paradigm-a-physician-and-patient-centered-approach/Changing+the+Healthcare+Paradigm%3A+A+Physician+And+Patient+Centered+Approach2010-02-18+16%3A41%3A26Dr.+Elaina+++George

Bayh: Congress Has Created No Jobs

When politicians are free from the demands of reelection, they often find their true, inner voice. They often speak with an honesty that eludes them on the campaign trail. Retiring Senator Evan Bayh provides the latest example with this quote:

“If I could create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a business, that would be one more than Congress has created in the last six months.”

Ouch

(more…)

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Tags: Congress, Evan Bayh, job creation, US Senate
Posted Feb 16th 2010 at 6:54 pm in Congress, Economics, News, Politics | 76502108 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/02/16/bayh-congress-has-created-no-jobs/Bayh%3A+Congress+Has+Created+No+Jobs2010-02-17+02%3A54%3A17Publius

Menendez NJ Recall Update: The Tea Party Goes to Court

It’s Not About the Recall, It’s About the First Amendment

Review of case briefs, case law research, and consultation with a number of attorneys, judges, and legal professionals contributed to the writing of this article.

Tea Party activists might be smarter than some would like to think.  And depending upon the outcome of a court case later this month, they might also play a role in setting legal precedent.

When New Jersey state election officials denied their submission to initiate a recall effort against U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, calling it unconstitutional, a grass-roots recall committee’s constitutional instincts kicked into full gear.  Attorneys for the committee, themselves Tea Party activists, filed to appeal the agency decision and began writing their supporting brief.

Meanwhile, seemingly everyone was now weighing in as a legal expert.  Some insist the decision is simple:  NJ has no constitutional authority to recall a US Senator; despite what its state constitution says, that authority is reserved for the federal government alone.  For weeks now, legal scholars, political pundits and the media have been chattering online about the case, now before the Appellate Division in the Superior Court of New Jersey, some treating it more like a sideshow and an outlet to take pot shots at Tea Partiers than a legitimate court proceeding with real constitutional significance.

But Dan Silberstein and Richard Luzzi, attorneys for the Committee to Recall Robert Menendez, a committee initiated by members of the Sussex County Tea Party, see this case in an entirely different light.  They insist this case is not about whether a recall order from the state is judicially enforceable against a United States Senator, rather, it’s all about protecting the first amendment right to free speech. And they are taking the matter very seriously.  Based upon recent developments in the case, apparently so are several others, including some high profile legal experts and the courts.

(more…)

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Tags: american civil rights union, Articles of Confederation, committee to recall, Congress, Constitution
Posted Feb 14th 2010 at 2:07 pm in Congress, Justice/Legal, News, Politics, State Politics, Tea Party | 73470158 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/libertychick/2010/02/14/menendez-nj-recall-update-the-tea-party-goes-to-court/Menendez+NJ+Recall+Update%3A++The+Tea+Party+Goes+to+Court2010-02-14+22%3A07%3A55Liberty+Chick

Citizens United Huge Step Forward for Free Speech

On January 21, the U.S. Supreme Court empowered ordinary Americans to speak out on an equal footing with millionaires and the media in U.S. elections. Threatened by people being able to freely speak their minds, the president of the United States deceived the American people when discussing this court decision in the State of the Union.

In Citizens United v. FEC, the Court held that Americans acting together through a corporation or other type of group enjoy the same free speech rights that they enjoy individually. Noting that wealthy individuals can spend unlimited money on election ads for radio and television, the Court held that ordinary individuals could likewise pool their money together to engage in the same type of speech, striking down a federal law that made such corporate action a felony.

Writing the majority opinion, moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy declared that in our free country, the First Amendment provides that, “more speech, not less, is the governing rule.” The Court wrote that this case involved a domestic corporation, funded and run by U.S. citizens, seeking to distribute a documentary on a presidential candidate to inform voters’ choices. The Court noted that the Constitution allows combating corruption, but that no one alleged any corruption or quid pro quo here, and so all this amounted to was people joining together in an organization to express their views during the election.

(more…)

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Tags: campaign finance, Congress, Free Speech, Obama, Supreme Court
Posted Jan 29th 2010 at 1:33 pm in Congress, Justice/Legal, News, Obama, Politics | 67162172 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kenandken/2010/01/29/citizens-united-huge-step-forward-for-free-speech/Citizens+United+Huge+Step+Forward+for+Free+Speech2010-01-29+21%3A33%3A27Ken+Blackwell+and++Ken+Klukowski

What Was Missing from the SOTU Address

Wednesday nights, I usually watch “Ghost Hunters” on the SyFy Channel. Yes, I am one of those geeks. But this week, I set the DVR so that I could watch President Obama give the annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress and the American people.

I might as well have watched a bunch of people using high-tech gadgetry to try to make contact with the other side, because I certainly didn’t learn anything new in this world.

Anyone who has paid even scant attention to Obama over the past year or two has heard it all before. We heard about the need to act “boldly” and “aggressively” in a crisis, the need to pass climate change legislation, the need to pass the health care boondoggle, the requisite bashing of banks and Wall Street, and, lest we forget, blaming Bush for everything except ABC’s cancellation of the show “Ugly Betty.”

In the private sector, constant passing of the buck gets you fired. In government, it earns you points with your base.

(more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Diane Sawyer, Frank Luntz, Joe Biden
Posted Jan 28th 2010 at 1:03 pm in Congress, News, Obama | 66402121 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/pmeister/2010/01/28/what-was-missing-from-the-sotu-address/What+Was+Missing+from+the+SOTU+Address2010-01-28+21%3A03%3A11Pam+Meister

2010 Republican Election Message: Clear, Practical and Limited

The Scott Brown triumph heralds an enormous opportunity for Republicans this fall.  As I posited in Part 2 of this series, The Top 4 Things Congressional Republicans Must Do in 2010, in order to make the most of the 2010 elections, Republicans must run on a defined Agenda for the Fall Elections.  That Agenda needs to be Clear, Practical and Limited.  Here is what I mean:

Clear.  In the wake of the Brown election, the Democrats most certainly will have a messy 2010.  The Pelosi wing of the Democrats, driven in part by Moveon.org, Emily’s List and others, will continue to push their views and legislation on issues like Health Care, Cap and Trade, Taxes, Afghanistan and more.  The Evan Bayh wing of the party, located in swing districts and states and fearful of the message of the Brown election – in order to survive – will have to push back on those Left Wing plans.  At worst, that inter-party warfare will be politically very ugly.   At best it will portray a Democrat Party with no clear vision for the future.  Similar to the fate that befell the warring and splintered Democrat Party in 1968, the Democrat infighting in 2010 will hamstring their election efforts.

That lack of clarity on the Democrats part must be contrasted by a clear governing vision on the part of Republicans.  The beauty of the Contract With America, beyond its content, was that it provided a concise and clear Agenda.  It told the voters exactly what Republicans intended to do if they won.  This Fall, Republicans, in a unified fashion, must do no less than that if they want to take back the House.

(more…)

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Tags: cap-and-trade, Congress, Constitution, Contract with America, Deficit
Posted Jan 26th 2010 at 6:17 am in Uncategorized | 64914117 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2010/01/26/2010-republican-election-message-clear-practical-and-limited/2010+Republican+Election+Message%3A+Clear%2C+Practical+and+Limited2010-01-26+14%3A17%3A35Thomas+Del+Beccaro

White House Hypocrisy on Executive Privilege

Congress wants the White House staff director involved in the now-infamous “gatecrasher” dinner to explain what happened. She won’t, because President Obama is invoking executive privilege. While there’s a decent claim for executive privilege here, Barack Obama’s hypocrisy is nothing short of stunning.

Most people have heard about the Virginia couple who apparently crashed the White House official dinner for the prime minister of India on Nov. 24. (It’s called an “official dinner” instead of a “state dinner” because the prime minister is not India’s head of state.) Congress has launched a probe and is demanding answers as to how uninvited people could end up shaking hands with the president of the United States and posing for photos with the VP and chief of staff.

One person Congress wants to speak with is Desiree Rogers, the White House Social Secretary. For dinners in previous administrations, the White House Social Office posted staffers at the entrance with a list of the invited guests to make sure fiascos like this can’t happen. Rogers, who holds her job because she’s an old buddy of First Lady Michelle Obama, evidently didn’t care enough to take this simple precaution.

But Congress won’t get the chance to ask Rogers, because President Obama is invoking executive privilege. That’s the legal doctrine for the president and certain executive-branch officials around him to refuse to testify in court or before Congress.

(more…)

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Tags: Congress, courts, desiree rogers, legal, Michaele Salahi
Posted Dec 5th 2009 at 10:33 am in Justice/Legal, Obama, Politics | 4114277 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kklukowski/2009/12/05/white-house-hypocrisy-on-executive-privilege/White+House+Hypocrisy+on+Executive+Privilege2009-12-05+17%3A33%3A16Ken+Klukowski

U.K. Cancer Death Rate Is 38% Higher Than In U.S.

As the Congress prepared to vote to let us enter the world of waits for doctors, waits for specialists, waits for testing and waits for surgery, radiation and chemo, we should pause to consider the relative records of the private medical care system in the United States with the socialized system in the U.K.

In 2008, Britain had a cancer death rate 0.25% while the United States had a rate of only 0.18%.  The UK cancer death rate was 38% higher than in the United States.

The Guardian, the UK’s left wing daily, estimated that “up to 10,000 people” are dying each year of cancer “because their condition is diagnosed too late, according to research by the government’s director of cancer services.”  While many people die because of late detection due to their own negligence, there is no reason to believe this self-neglect is more common in the UK than in the US. (more…)

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Tags: Canada, cancer, cancer survivability, Congress, ObamaCare
Posted Dec 2nd 2009 at 11:06 am in Congress, Politics | 39950231 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/dmorris/2009/12/02/u-k-cancer-death-rate-is-38-higher-than-in-u-s/U.K.+Cancer+Death+Rate+Is+38%25+Higher+Than+In+U.S.2009-12-02+18%3A06%3A43Dick+Morris

Economy in the Lurch: Negative Interest Rates, the Fed Audit, and Geithner in the Dock

Negative interest rates finally materialize, Tim Geithner falls on his face at Congress, and the House moves forward with their policy of gutting the authority of the Federal Reserve. That’s three big stories to talk about on today’s Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

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You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

WSJ: House Attacks Fed, Treasury
MarketWatch: Panel Votes to Audit Fed Balance Sheet
WP: Threatening the Fed’s Independence
Bloomberg: Geithner Resignation Calls Increase
Ryan and Hensarling: Why No One Expects a Strong Recovery

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Tags: Congress, Economy, Federal Reserve, Gold Standard, interest rates
Posted Nov 20th 2009 at 9:13 am in Economics | 3428239 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/newledger/2009/11/20/economy-in-the-lurch-negative-interest-rates-the-fed-audit-and-geithner-in-the-dock/Economy+in+the+Lurch%3A+Negative+Interest+Rates%2C+the+Fed+Audit%2C+and+Geithner+in+the+Dock2009-11-20+16%3A13%3A56The+New+Ledger

Politics California Style: Nancy Pelosi and Henry Waxman

The success of the Chicago-style politics of Dick Durbin, Rahm Emmanuel and Barack Obama, characterized by brass knuckles, intense bullying, finger pointing and public attacks has been mesmerizing.  Meanwhile, very  little attention has been focused on the California-style politics of obfuscation and intimidation practiced by Nancy Pelosi and her sidekick, Henry Waxman.  Ignoring California-style politics is a mistake: these guys are good!

The art of obfuscation is central to California-style politics.  Think back on Speaker Pelosi’s byzantine explanation of why she called career CIA employees liars.  Incomprehensible, deliberately vague misdirection characterizes the California-style of politics.  Never be precise; never say what you mean, and certainly, never let facts interfere with the spin.

Cumbersome, incoherent  legislation is another example of obfuscation, California-style: thousands of pages of  gobble-de-gook, the Stimulus, at 1000 pages, the Energy bill at 1100 pages and the Healthcare bill version #1 at 1300 pages and the latest House healthcare bill at a whopping 1990 pages.

Pelosi seems to have assembled these monstrosities so that few in Congress can read the legislation in its entirety before she calls the vote.   Deceptive executive summaries, with left wing talking points, attached to these gargantuan documents are yet another form of obfuscation.

(more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, California, California Bay, Congress, Department of Commerce
Posted Nov 19th 2009 at 11:17 am in Congress, Politics | 3359065 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2009/11/19/politics-california-style-nancy-pelosi-and-henry-waxman/Politics+California+Style%3A+Nancy+Pelosi+and+Henry+Waxman2009-11-19+18%3A17%3A57Lurita+Doan

Five Common-Sense Steps to Change a Broken Congress

The American people have had it with “business as usual” in Congress.  They are fed up with practices such as tucking special-interest provisions into bills behind closed doors, secretly changing bills without a vote, and passing bills no one has read.  This has happened for far too long, but never before has the need for reform been more apparent than in the past year under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her Democratic majority.

Americans are demanding change in the way Congress works.  Recognizing this, I and other reform-minded congressional Republicans this week will put forth a new transparency initiative – a series of common-sense congressional reforms aimed at bringing some much-needed openness and accountability to the House.

In just 10 months, with help from the Obama White House, Speaker Pelosi’s Congress has taken business-as-usual to a devastating new extreme.  The American people have watched Congress rush through a massive “stimulus” spending bill no one read; a massive $410 billion omnibus spending bill loaded with thousands of un-scrutinized earmarks; and a new “cap and trade” national energy tax loaded with special-interest giveaways unveiled at 3:00 am on the morning before a vote.

(more…)

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Tags: cap-and-trade, Congress, congressional reform, Earmarks, floor action
Posted Nov 18th 2009 at 8:03 am in Congress, News, Politics | 32826109 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jboehner/2009/11/18/five-common-sense-steps-to-change-a-broken-congress/Five+Common-Sense+Steps+to+Change+a+Broken+Congress2009-11-18+15%3A03%3A17Rep.+John+Boehner

Obama is No Captain Jean-Luc-Picard — USS Enterprise

“Make It So!” Jean-Luc Picard, the intrepid, clever and compassionate leader of the USS Enterprise, often issued this directive to his loyal crew to execute a plan, to save the ship, themselves, or entire worlds.  And, the Enterprise crew got it done.  Consider President Barack Obama, worlds to appease, a nation to cajole, and a Congress with more plans to assimilate than the Borg. With jobless numbers at 10.2%, Obama is likely wondering: what went wrong?

Picard’s introspective and analytical nature bluntly assessed his actions, refusing excuses, with a plan to improve his performance.  Obama may spend time on the White House holodeck, envisioning “what if” scenarios, but an assessment of the year since his election, shows that few of Obama’s campaign promises have come to fruition.

The deficit of $459 billion, which President Obama inherited from George Bush has grown to $1.4 trillion, while the economy has shrunk.  The 3.5-million-jobs-created campaign promise has been watered down to claim 600,000 jobs “saved” .

(more…)

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Tags: Borg, Cash for Clunkers, Congress, continuing resolution, Czars
Posted Nov 6th 2009 at 2:37 pm in Congress, Economics, Obama, Politics | 2666255 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2009/11/06/obama-is-no-captain-jean-luc-picard-uss-enterprise/Obama+is+No+Captain+Jean-Luc-Picard+--+USS+Enterprise+2009-11-06+21%3A37%3A51Lurita+Doan

Three Guiding Principles for Reforming Wall Street

In the wake of the massive bank bailouts, nearly everyone is calling for some kind of financial regulatory system overhaul. The Obama administration has outlined what it would like to see and Congress is currently holding hearings on how to best reform the regulatory structure. But the lobbying began long ago.

Big banks are squaring off against smaller banks in the debate over consolidating national banking regulatory powers. All banks are lining up against financial institutions like hedge funds on the regulation of products like derivatives. Even the regulating agencies are competing against each other in hopes of garnering more power.

Unfortunately, if Congress makes choices on political criteria alone, reforms are likely to damage the country’s economic recovery.

Instead, there are three guiding principles that lawmakers should bear in mind when writing new regulations for Wall Street.

(more…)

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Tags: CIT, Congress, Derivatives, Financial Innovation, Financial Services Regulation Reform
Posted Oct 15th 2009 at 11:30 am in Congress, Economics, Politics | 155429 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/arandazzo/2009/10/15/three-guiding-principles-for-reforming-wall-street/Three+Guiding+Principles+for+Reforming+Wall+Street2009-10-15+18%3A30%3A10Anthony+Randazzo

ABC News: ‘Hollywood Tough Guy Teams With Animal Rights Groups for Tax Change’

ABC News:

“What a pro-active way to be able to help the economy and change the culture in this country around animals,” Robert Davi, a veteran actor (”The Goonies,” “Die Hard,” “License to Kill”) who was a main force behind the bill’s introduction, told ABCNews.com in a telephone interview.

“This money goes back into the economy, and it encourages people to understand the social responsibilities we have toward animals,” Davi said. …

***

A bill making the rounds on Capitol Hill marries two feel-good propositions — tax cuts and pet ownership — to generate a novel idea: A tax break of up to $3,500 per person for pet care expenses. (more…)

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Tags: Congress, HAPPY Act, Leo Grillo, R-Mich, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter
Posted Oct 13th 2009 at 11:17 am in Congress, Politics, Tax Reform | 16006No Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/10/13/abc-news-hollywood-tough-guy-teams-with-animal-rights-groups-for-tax-change/ABC+News%3A+%E2%80%98Hollywood+Tough+Guy+Teams+With+Animal+Rights+Groups+for+Tax+Change%E2%80%992009-10-13+18%3A17%3A59Publius

The Pork Report: October 8, 2009

From the great folks at Sen. Tom Coburn’s office:

Political scientists lobbying Congress for federal subsidies

The National Science Foundation spends about $8 million annually to support political science research

Research sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force attempts to predict individuals’ political affiliation based on Facebook profiles

Congress earmarks $3 million to a company owned by Goldman Sachs and two private equity funds

Congress raids the military’s maintenance budget to pay for $5 million earmark for digital scrapbooks

The Federal Aviation Administration has spent more than $270 million in federal stimulus grants on projects that scored poorly on the agency’s own national priority rating system

Department of Homeland Security steers nearly $1 million in federal funding, typically distributed to fire departments, to ACORN

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Tags: ACORN, Congress, Department of Homeland Security, digital scrapbooks, earmark
Posted Oct 8th 2009 at 12:46 pm in Congress, Politics | 1455813 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/porkreport/2009/10/08/the-pork-report-october-8-2009/The+Pork+Report%3A+October+8%2C+20092009-10-08+19%3A46%3A35The+Pork+Report

Coburn: Senate Votes to Prioritize Pork Over National Defense

October 6, 2009

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released the following statement after the Senate rejected Coburn amendments that would have forced Congress to shift earmark funds back toward vital operations and maintenance. By a vote of 25 to 73, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Dr. Coburn that would have restored to the troops $165 million earmarked within the Defense appropriations bill’s maintenance and operations accounts for congressional earmarks.

“In a time of war it is unconscionable for members of Congress to divert funds from vital operations to less-than-vital parochial pork projects. I regret the Senate voted today to protect their pet projects at the expense of our troops,” Dr. Coburn said.

The Pentagon has also expressed concern over the excessive amount of earmarks Congress has requested:

“Every dollar that we are forced to spend on things which we do not need requires us to take money from things which we do need. And the people who lose in that trade-off are our troops and the taxpayers,” said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon spokesman. (more…)

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Tags: Armed Forces, Congress, Defense, Geoff Morrell, O&M
Posted Oct 6th 2009 at 5:36 pm in Congress, Defense, Economics, Politics, Tax Reform | 1374677 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/10/06/coburn-senate-votes-to-prioritize-pork-over-national-defense/Coburn%3A+Senate+Votes+to+Prioritize+Pork+Over+National+Defense2009-10-07+00%3A36%3A58Publius

Pork Report: September 30, 2009

Today’s Pork Report from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) identies at least $315 million in wasteful Washington spending:

Congress boosts its own budget by $250 million; Increase will pay to hire consultants, hold receptions, and send postcards to voters

Only 16% of Americans believe Congress is doing a good job

Medicaid spends $65 million on prescription drug abuse, including paying for thousands of prescriptions for dead patients

Puppet theater in Philadelphia receives federal stimulus funds

80% of Boston’s music festival being paid for with federal stimulus funds; The six-concert, three-day event plans to “jump-start the classical music season and the national economy”

Nevada spending federal stimulus funds to underwrite “crucial festival director position”

Despite being in good financial shape, Idaho festival receives stimulus funds to pay for next year’s festival

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Tags: Boston, classical music, Congress, drug abuse, festival
Posted Sep 30th 2009 at 1:00 pm in Congress, Earmarks, News, Politics | 1055822 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/porkreport/2009/09/30/pork-report-september-30-2009/Pork+Report%3A+September+30%2C+20092009-09-30+20%3A00%3A57The+Pork+Report