11-09-2010
Permalink
Mitch McConnell
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Subject: So You Want to Hang On to Those Earmarks? We'll See
About That!
Earlier today the online news site, Politico,
reported that Jim DeMint was marshaling Republicans to get behind a
plan to restrict earmarks from future congressional legislation.
You know what we're talking about here; things like the $300 million
Louisiana
Purchase, or the $100 million
Cornhusker
Kickback, or Chris Dodd's $100 million
"grant"
for construction of an unspecified Connecticut university hospital, or
the grandaddy of them all, the $60 billion
Cadillac Tax
for the benefit of the Unions, all of which were, at one point,
included as part of the recently passed health care (i.e.,
Obamacare) legislation.
Of course, these follow in the proud tradition of Alaskian Ted Steven's
$230 million
Bridge To Nowhere,
or Virginia Foxx and Richard Burr's $500,000 to build a
Teapot Museum
in Sparta, NC, or then Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill's $14.6 billion
for a 3.5 mile long Massachusetts
Big Dig
highway project, or $3.4 million to build a
Turtle Tunnel
in Florida, or $19 million to study the environmental effects of
Cow Flatulence.
And the list goes on, and on, and on... According to
Wikipedia,
in 2005, federal legislation contained an estimated 16,000 earmarks
totaling roughly $48 billion, and
CBS News,
reports that the 2010 Federal budget alone contained 5,000 earmarks
which totaled roughly $14 billion, which is on top of the 2009 stimulus
allocation of $787 billion.
So, considering the mood of the country as was recently exhibited
in the mid-term elections, with the voters rejecting sixty-six
congressional tax-and-spend progressives and replacing them with
fiscal conservative, it would seem like a no-brainer to support
DeMint's proposal to reign in the abuse of earmarks. Right? Well,
that's apparently not how many of the long-standing congressional
Republicans see it.
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Politico reports:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is maneuvering
behind the scenes to defeat a conservative plan aimed at
restricting earmarks, setting up a high-stakes showdown
that pits the GOP leader and his "Old Bull" allies against
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and a new breed of conservative
senators.
McConnell's heightened activity signals what Senate
insiders say is real fear among senior members —
that the DeMint plan actually stands a serious chance of
passing. And that could have uncomfortable implications
for a bloc of GOP senators — like McConnell, a
member of the Appropriations Committee — who
annually send hundreds of millions of dollars for projects
in their home states.
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, one of the most conservative
senators and an unabashed earmarker, plans a blitz on
conservative talk radio to make the case that critics
have demagogued the earmark issue in order to make their
political points that they're out to reform the excesses
of Congress.
[A] number of senators who voted for the DeMint plan in
March are likely "no" votes now, including McConnell,
Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander
of Tennessee and DeMint's fellow South Carolina senator,
Lindsey Graham.
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And there you have it. RINOs at work, saying something to the voters
out of one side of their mouth, while having absolutely no intention
of standing up for our rights, or the principles of liberty. Politics
is just a game to these bozos and they have a vested interest in the
status quo which allows them to rob the citizens of 49 other states
and send the bacon back home to their special interests and campaign
contributors.
The election is over and it's time for us to get back to work,
continuing to communicate our expectations, and doing what we can to
pressure every one of these two-faced congressional cowards to do the
right thing when it comes to specific legislative actions. Here is a
letter that I just sent to Mitch McConnell, James Inhofe, Lamar
Alexander and Lindsey Graham:
So You Want to Keep Your Earmarks?
Dear Congressman:
Truly unbelievable! You Republicans haven't let the ink
dry on the election when you are already jockeying to
override the message that the people sent to you just
one short week ago. You have learned absolutely nothing!
So you want to hang on to your precious pork, regardless
of the harm that this fiasco has inflicted upon the country
by inflating the budget year after year with hidden perks
for favored members of Congress, and paying off special
interests — or those who have made campaign
contributions — by concealing these thefts of
taxpayer dollars from open scrutiny, honest debate and a
public justification.
WAKE UP! The citizens of this country have had
enough of this political corruption, and we are not going
to allow you to get away with it any longer. We are
through with all of you — both Republican and
Democrat — treating us as though we were simply a
natural resource to be mined for whatever purpose strikes
your fancy. We are finished with letting you push us
around. The jig is up.
The American people have sent you a clear message demanding
that, as our representatives, you restore our individual
rights by removing onerous regulations and legislation that
interfere with our freely being able to pursue our own
definition of personal happiness. On that front, you can
start with the repeal of Obamacare. We also want
you to balance the budget and start whittling away at the
national debt, not by increasing taxes, but by drastically
cutting government programs and expenditures. To perform
the job delegated to you by the Constitution, you will have
no need for a single pork-barrel project.
If you continue to oppose measures to eliminate earmarks
and other governmental reforms, and instead support
business-as-usual, then you are painting a big red
bull's-eye on your head, and we will be gunning for you
and your like-minded associated in the next, and the next,
and the next election, until you have all been sent out to
pasture, and replaced with those who understand the proper
role of government and are prepared to stand up and defend
the principles upon which this country was founded.
It's time to choose your side, for we are engaged in a
revolutionary war to take back our rights to life,
liberty and property from those who wish to rule as our
masters. Are you with us or against us? Please write
back and let me know where you stand.
Sincerely,
—
C. Jeffery Small
P.S. We are not the idiots you take us for — and we
have long memories. I'm watching.
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I would encourage each of you reading this to jot down your own
thoughts on the issue and send them to any member of Congress
needing a little help in understanding what it means to be a
proper representative of we the people! You can use the
Congress Merge
site to obtain the contact information for any Senator or
Representative. Thanks for continuing to do your part in the
battle to restore Liberty.
[Addendum – 11-10-10: In the National Review Online, Senator Tom
Coburn has written an excellent article titled Earmark
Myths and Realities which makes a number of good points about
what is so wrong with earmarks, and why they should be eliminated.
Besides denouncing those who oppose the reforming of corrupt government
practices, we need to show our support for those who are prepared to
fight for what is right, so let people like Senator Coburn (OK), and
Senator DeMint (SC) know that we stand behind them.]
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