Is this true??

[manning]

9,000 plus earmarks in the next bill??

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I hope not

 

[rabx5]

9,000 plus earmarks in the next bill??

Link?

 

[bgirl29]

OH shoot! I know I heard that on tv last night, I couldn't believe the number. Was it on ABC's World News? They talked about a few of them, one was pig odors. Another one was some kind of grasshopper.

 

[Golf4food]

Probably. Check out the Citizens Against Government Waste at http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer - they'll have all the grisly details when they are available. A great site to track what all those morons in Congress really spend our tax dollars on.

 

[mvazul]

From what I heard, there is $200,000 earmarked for tattoo removal in California. Not joking.

Michelle

 

[c4a]

The bill President Obama was talking about last night was signed and became law Feb.17, 2009. Providing a link to the actual bill (some of the stuff in it is unreal!! No tatoo removal...sorry CA. However, there is $650,000,000 to be set aside for regular tv to hdtv "coupons" up until Sept.-to bad the analog/hdtv change takes place a couple months before that.$740,000,000 for climate study and modeling,$50,000,000 in grants for out of work artist due to a drop in philanthropic donations.) for your reading pleasure. Since the bill is 258 pages long-copy/paste is really not an option.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 House of Represenative Link

The next two bills up for a vote are:
H.R. 17 Citizen Self-Defense Act
Bill Intro.-Self-Defense Act of 2009 - Declares that a person not prohibited under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act from receiving a firearm shall have the right to obtain firearms for security and to use firearms in defense of:

H.R. 45 Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009
Bill Intro.-Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements.
Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system.
Prohibits:
(1) transferring a firearm to any person other than a licensee, unless the transfer is processed through a licensed dealer in accordance with national instant criminal background check system requirements, with exceptions;
(2) a licensed manufacturer or dealer from failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements of this Act;
(3) failing to report the loss or theft of the firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours;
(4) failing to report to the Attorney General an address change within 60 days; or
(5) keeping a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm, knowingly or recklessly disregarding the risk that a child is capable of gaining access, if a child uses the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury.
Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of firearms provisions covered by this Act.
Directs the Attorney General to:
(1) establish and maintain a firearm injury information clearinghouse;
(2) conduct continuing studies and investigations of firearm-related deaths and injuries; and
(3) collect and maintain current production and sales figures of each licensed manufacturer.
Authorizes the Attorney General to certify state firearm licensing or record of sale systems


OpenCongress is a free bill tracking site. Both the House and Senate have a link to the actual proposed bills (if you know the bill name, id number).

I figure these guys (and gals) work for me...they better be earning their paycheck.

 

[Tumblwd501]

9,000 plus earmarks in the next bill??

The 2009 omnibus spending bill has about 8,500 disclosed earmarks totaling about $7.7 billion. So if you include the non-disclosed "earmarks", it probably does come close to 9,000 and who know how many dollars. Looks like the earmarks are pretty much the usual 60/40 split for the majority and minority parties as historically been done in the past with these bills. Same ol', same ol'.

 

[mvazul]

The bill President Obama was talking about last night was signed and became law Feb.17, 2009. Providing a link to the actual bill (some of the stuff in it is unreal!! No tatoo removal...sorry CA.

I had heard this morning that there is a new bill - another one on top of the one already passed. The tattoo removal was in this particular bill. However, I can't find anything about it now. So, maybe I heard wrong??? However, I do know for a fact that the people on the news were specifically talking about earmarks for the tattoo removal. I wish I could find a link.

I'll keep looking.

Michelle

 

[loco4dis]

Spending Bill Stuffed with Earmarks

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/24/obama-pleads-for-fiscal-responsibility/

House Democrats propose $410B spending bill

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090224/ap_on_go_co/spending_bill

Democrats Unveil $410 Billion ‘Omnibus’ Spending Bill

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akuG0BtbSKsc&refer=us

 

[mvazul]

Spending Bill Stuffed with Earmarks

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/24/obama-pleads-for-fiscal-responsibility/

House Democrats propose $410B spending bill

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090224/ap_on_go_co/spending_bill

Democrats Unveil $410 Billion ‘Omnibus’ Spending Bill

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akuG0BtbSKsc&refer=us

Thank you very much! At least I know I wasn't hearing things or going crazy! I can't tell you how many times I hear something on the news never to see or hear of it, again.

Michelle

 

[Geoff_M]

9,000 plus earmarks in the next bill??

That's a vicious lie! There's only 8,570 of them, as counted by the group Taxpayers for Common Sense:

Reid to Obama: Let us keep earmarks
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants the White House to tread lightly on earmarks, saying that any push by the Obama administration to clamp down on pet projects would be met with strong opposition from congressional leaders.

"We cannot let spending be done by a bunch of nameless, faceless bureaucrats," Reid said, arguing that lawmakers are much more in tune with federal money needs for their states than agencies in Washington.

Reid's comments came as he and Democratic leaders vowed swift action on Obama's agenda.

In comments to reporters Wednesday morning, Reid also blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for forcing Congress to jack up spending for congressional operations in the massive omnibus spending bill. Reid said that even though Republicans lost big in the 2008 elections, McConnell insisted that they maintain their staff levels, forcing about a 10-percent hike in funding for the legislative branch, whose budget totals some $4.4 billion.

"You should direct that question to Senator McConnell because we had trouble organizing this year,” Reid said, referring to a resolution the Senate must pass to formally organize for the new Congress. “He wanted to maintain a lot of their staffing even though they had lost huge numbers. And the only way we could get it done is to do what we did. So you should direct that question to Senator McConnell."

A GOP leadership aide said that Republican staff “aren’t getting a dime” more than they did last year. The aide also said that a $116 million-increase for the architect of the Capitol was more to blame for the increase in the cost of running Congress.

But both parties have been hit with criticism over earmarks in spending bills. Earmarking money has been the subject of increased scrutiny after the practice became the subject of high-profile corruption scandals on Capitol Hill in recent years, and led to a sweeping ethics reform law in 2007.

Democrats say that they have substantially cut the number of earmarks in recent years, but critics say lawmakers' desire for pork undermines efforts to rein in federal spending. The House has been more aggressive in trying to scale back earmarks, but the senators continue to hold firm to the tradition of congressional earmarking.

In the omnibus spending bill working its way through Congress, there are 8,570 earmarks worth $7.7 billion, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

But Reid defended the spending, saying that the "government is the only body that has any money" to spend to prop up the sagging economy.

Reid's and other members of Senate Democratic leadership also vowed swift action to implement Obama's broad agenda on energy, the economy and health care, which Reid said would hit the Senate floor before the August recess.

 

[SteveInBrooklyn]

Note to Govt: SPEND, SPEND, SPEND. We are in a recession, we MUST increase GDP. By itself, govt spending always increases GDP, but on top of that it will stimulate private sector spending. So SPEND AWAY boys, don't stop till the economy is growing again.

 

[campingfool]

Note to Govt: SPEND, SPEND, SPEND. We are in a recession, we MUST increase GDP. By itself, govt spending always increases GDP, but on top of that it will stimulate private sector spending. So SPEND AWAY boys, don't stop till the economy is growing again.

 

[SteveInBrooklyn]

It's funny because it's true.

 

[Geoff_M]

You know, I think he's on to something... We need the Mother-of-all-Stimulus Bills! Let's go for $10 trillion! With that sort of government infused GDP growth think of all of the wealth that will be created! Heh, if it worked for the Weimar Republic, it can work for us!

 

[CowboyCO]

It's funny because it's true.

Yeah, I've decided to spend my way out of my recession. My pay is down, so I'm just going to max out my credit cards, and apply for a few more.

That way, my customers will start spending more money because I am spending more money and that money coming back at me at a result of the money I spent from the money I borrowed from my credit card companies and I will use the money from my customers spending more money from my spending money to pay back my credit cards. Got it.

Democratic stimulus 101

 

[CowboyCO]

"

We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong ... somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises ... I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started ... And an enormous debt to boot!

Henry Morganthau - Treasury Secretary to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's remarks about the government's failed attempts stimulate the economy out of the Great Depression by excessive spending and borrowing.

 

[campingfool]

It's funny because it's true.

It's funny because the idea is so absurd!

 

[Saxsoon]

Didn't you know, according to a Democratic Senator, the AVERAGE citizen doesn't pay attention to those pork. (paraphrasing obviously)

Hope and Ch . . .(the same old crap) we can believe in?