Omnibust Porker Bill
Forget Stephen King; if you really want a chillingly horrific read check out the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill brewed up and released by Democrats this week, all 1,924 pages of it. Or better yet, let somebody else do the heavy reading for you. This from CNSNews:
Senate Republicans gave notice Tuesday evening of their intention to force a reading of all 1,924 pages of a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill laden with more than 6,000 earmarks, a development anti-pork critics described as “shameful” and “outrageous.”
In a stinging speech on the Senate floor, Sen. John McCain listed some of earmarks incorporated into a bill which he said had been “written by a handful of senators who happen to be members of the Appropriations Committee.” The bill reached his office just after noon on Tuesday.
Totaling nearly $8.3 billion, he said, the earmarks include $349,000 for swine waste management in North Carolina; $413,000 for peanut research in Alabama; $235,000 for noxious weed management in Nevada; and $300,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii.
…
McCain said Senate Democrats had clearly not learned the lesson of the midterm election.
“The American people couldn’t have been more clear,” he said. “They’re tired of the wasteful spending, they’re tired of big government, they’re tired of sweetheart deals for special interest, and they’re tired of business as usual in Washington.”
Other wild spending rooted out by McCain’s staff:
$247,000 – Virus free grapes in Washington State
$125,000 – Fishery equipment for the Guam Fisherman’s Cooperative Association
$277,000 – Potato pest management in Wisconsin
$246,000 – Bovine tuberculosis treatment in Michigan and Minnesota
$522,000 – Cranberry and blueberry disease and breeding in New Jersey
$500,000 – Oyster safety in Florida
$400,000 – Solar parking canopies and plug-in electric stations in Kansas
$165,000 – Maple syrup research in Vermont.
House Speaker-designate John Boehner blasted the omnibus porker, calling for President Obama to kill it dead before it reaches the trough:
If President Obama is truly serious about ending earmarks, he should oppose Senate Democrats’ pork-laden omnibus spending bill and announce he will veto it if necessary. This bill represents exactly what the American people have rejected: more spending, more earmarks, and more big government. Republicans strongly oppose this last-ditch spending spree, a smack in the face to taxpayers at a time when we’re borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend. Senate Democrats even go so far as to plow more than $1 billion into implementing ObamaCare, despite a growing national revolt against this job-killing health care law.
For the life of me, I can’t imagine why this country is going broke or how we managed to survive this long without virus-free grapes from Washington State.
UPDATE: And, um, oh yeah, let’s not forget the Queen City’s own earmark additions to the omnibus pork pie, including $400K for a Gang of One grant; $300K for a wastewater and stormwater project; and a cool $11 million for the NE Blue Line Extension light rail project.
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