March 26, 2007
The Other White Meat.
Vol. 2 Issue
6
When President Bush asked for an
additional 22,000 troops to compliment the
forces in Iraq so we can hopefully end the
conflict and put this war to bed, Congress
obliged. However, now that the President is
asking for $92 billion in emergency spending
because the previous funds will run out next
month, Congress in its irresponsible wisdom
has delivered a car without a gas tank. In
real terms, you can't drive a car without
gas and you can't fight a war without the
tools needed to get the job done, especially
if you are pulling a trailer full of pork.
To be perfectly blunt, most of the
Democrats are against the war. It does not
take a brain surgeon to realize that fact.
So why waste the taxpayer’s time and money
to push through a useless bill that everyone
knows will be vetoed anyway. Okay all of you
folks who are sitting on the left side of
the aisle we heard you, we got your message.
We are not as stupid as you believe we are.
There are people out there that want to cut
off our heads. So stop playing games and get
the job done right. Get back to work and do
the job you were elected to do; that is to
uphold the constitution and protect the
people of the United States.
Tacking on all sorts of useless
amendments is totally counterproductive. You
were elected to represent the people not try
to bribe your colleagues with all sorts of
goodies so they will vote in your favor. Let
us examine what bribes they have tried to
use.
The President asked for an additional $92
billion in emergency spending. He wanted $72
billion to fund the war and $20 billion in
additional Hurricane Katrina relief. Knowing
that placing a timetable on the bill by
itself wouldn't allow it to fly so they
tacked on all kinds of pork. Some of these
amendments are so ridiculous that they would
insult the intelligence of a two-year-old
child.
They added over $24 billion that has me
scratching my head. Here are just a few
amendments they added on:
$4 billion in additional nationwide
agricultural disaster assistance. The USDA
did not request the funds. Even though farm
income in 2005 was in excess of $72 billion,
a record high, they added an additional $4
billion, which would not be used in areas
that were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Sounds like another rainy day fund, only
rain is not in the forecast.
$700 million to reroute a railroad line
so it can make room for a private
development of additional casinos along the
Gulf Coast. That line is now fully
functional after it was repaired at a cost
of $300 million after being damaged by
Hurricane Katrina. CSX is not excited about
moving their tracks they rebuilt it as fast
as possible to meet their customers needs
because it was a critical artery. There is
nothing wrong with the existing line. Don't
bet on this one.
$594 million in additional highway
funding. This is in addition to the $286
billion that was passed last year. Only this
money has nothing to do with Katrina or
Iraq. It would be used for the emergency
relief highway backlog across the country.
The only project specifically mentioned in
the committee's report is the Kuhio Highway
in Hawaii, which is, located over 4,000
miles away from the Gulf Coast. Sounds like
another bridge to nowhere.
$21 million is the amount President Bush
originally wanted to restore fishery
resources in the Gulf region as assistance
to the seafood industry that was hard hit by
Katrina. The House eliminated this portion
of the bill. However, the Senate reinstated
it and raised the stakes to over $1.1
billion. This is well beyond the already
millions that were spent to repair and
replace damaged boats and docks. Smells a
little fishy to me.
You are going to love this one! $3.8
billion to prepare for a potential bird flu
epidemic like the last one. You know the
last one that is the one where we have
500-million vaccines ready to go. The
current vaccine is not scheduled to expire
for at least two- years. So now, they want
us to throw it all away and start over.
Sounds like a bird brained idea to me.
$74 million for the peanut farmers to
store their crops. There is a peanut quota
in the U.S. This holds down the supply and
increases the price. So now, they want to
hand the peanut farmers our hard- earned tax
dollars to buy them storage units. I wonder
if they will be located in Plains, Georgia.
This sounds like a nutty idea.
$400 million to help the timber industry
in Oregon. This industry was originally hurt
when Congress shut down harvesting the
Northern timberlands to protect the Spotted
Owl from being displaced. However, they have
no problem displacing you and me through
eminent domain if they needed our houses for
a municipal parking lot. By the way, the
Northern Spotted Owl originated in Mexico,
they are probably here illegally.
$400 million for the low-income energy
assistance program. The Democrats have been
blocking our efforts to drill our own oil
resources. They also don't want us to
increase nuclear power. So what are they
going to do with the $400 million? Send me
low energy light bulbs.
Here is the real problem. According to
the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates the
funding of the war runs out on April 15,
2007. If Congress does not act immediately,
on April 15 there will be no funds available
to protect our sons, daughters, brothers,
sisters and friends who are fighting to keep
America safe. Congress will be on Spring
Break when that happens. They will be
romping on the sands of Palm Beach and Santa
Monica while our troops are romping on the
sands of Baghdad. They will be sipping
champagne and Rum Punch while our troops
will be wondering where their next meal is
coming from because the funds ran out.
This is not the first time pork was added
to an emergency spending bill. During the
last go around, they tacked on a $1 million
price tag for a telescope to be used to
discover intelligent life in outer space.
Let's start by looking for intelligent life
in Washington, DC.
And, that's my opinion.
Michael Solomon
If you want
to help restore sanity to America, join the
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