Just when you think Congress can't get any dumber, they go and pull this kind of shit. Each one of them is guilty of complaining about the deficit, our debt, and other fiscal issues, yet, the vote was 29-71 AGAINST a bill that would ban earmarks for one year.
Do you know WHY they rejected it? Well, Harry Reid, who voted against it, has said point blank he likes earmarks for his voters. He doesn't give a shit if it pushes us further into debt, he only cares about what boils down to buying votes.
Congress as a whole, rejected this because it would show the American people exactly how much waste is going on in the halls of power, and it's also the reason why Congress doesn't work to give the President line item veto power.
Here's an interesting breakdown of how everyone voted:
YEAs ---29
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bayh (D-IN)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coburn (R-OK)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Obama (D-IL)
Sessions (R-AL)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)
NAYs ---71
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
Dodd (D-CT)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Notice that Hillary voted FOR this? It is yet another example of her doing whatever it takes to gain power. I'll explain. Hillary, LAST YEAR, got herself $340 MILLION dollars in earmarks, which placed her in the top 10 Senators for earmarks. Barack Obama, who voted FOR this ban as well, asked and got $91 million dollars in earmarks last year.
Yet, the only Presidential candidate who voted for the ban on earmarks AND doesn't look like a hypocrite doing so, is John McCain.
In fact, here's the Fiscal Year 2008 Total Earmarks list from www.taxpayers.net, and it's FILLED to the brim with waste.
What really chaps my ass is that there's $14 billion dollars worth there, and an additional $3 billion that's "undisclosed", meaning it was asked for and no one knows anything about it. That boils down to $56 a year for every man, woman and child in the US in taxes. Doesn't sound like much, but for a family of 4, that's $224 or roughly $20 a month that's taken out of your pocket for their frivolous spending.
Hell, if they cut that spending, but turned around and put it towards the federal debt, we'd be one step closer to what everyone agrees should be a good policy: fiscal conservatism.
And both Hillary AND Obama voted for it to make themselves look good on the Presidential race because they have already submitted the FY2008 budget. To have a bit of integrity, they should have had this vote BEFORE the budget was agreed upon.
If they can't be trusted to reign in their spending when no one is looking, why do you think you can trust them with other issues when no one is looking?
Travis
No comments:
Post a Comment