Wednesday, March 04, 2009
The US Congress Is Full of Idiots
Earmarks are a bi-partisan disease and we do not seem to "get it" - John McCain (Speaking yesterday in regards to pork spending in congressional bills).
Why do our elected officials in the House and Senate not realize that the voters do not want them to conduct business in the "same old way"? We sent a message for CHANGE!
Yet they still go about adding earmarks to every bill and spending money like fools. With the current economic conditions, now is not the time for silly spending projects tacked onto important legislation.
Congress sucks.
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4 comments:
A simple question and a hope for a discussion on the subject. Are all earmarks bad? Are they all "pork?" Secondary question, Are all lobbyists "ill-intended?"
Not all earmarks are silly spending projects. I've read that people want all appropriations to be debated in Congress openly. To a degree, I agree. Now, answer the question of an important program that is "between the seams" (know the term?). An important program is conducted outside of appropriations, but its timing is such that it is not completed until after the budget requests are made and the President's list is completed...yet the program is important. How does that program continue without a "special appropriation?"
JF states a valid point. NOT ALL EARMARKS ARE BAD.
But alas, this is why I think the president should have line-item-veto. The current system has flaws, and while we will never get it perfect... we should try to make it better. But we don't change it because the current system benefits the current members of congress. They are not going to give away their golden goose. And why should they? The people just lap it up and let them play their little political games.
Real leaders would stand up and lead, even when it does not benefit them personally or their party. I witness little of this type of action in Washington.
Sure, lots of valuable programs get added to bills. But a lot of crap gets added too. Maybe I was a bit over stated in my generalization (but you know what, it is MY blog so I get to do that from time to time).
I did not say EVERYONE in Congress is an idiot. I said Congress if FULL of idiots. Some of the people are not pork loving selfish pigs.
And as for the lobbyists. That is a whole other topic, but NO, I do not think they are ALL ill-intended. I think many of them are just doing their job, and are not thinking of any intentions beyond a score for their team. But there are lots of lobbyist who have real passion for amazing causes.
JF, thanks for adding to the discussion!
All I had to do was read the title of your post on Google Reader and I immediately thought "AMEN!!!"
Thom, to add more context. My company did work under an R&D award. The program was successful and an extension is in process. But, because of pure timing, the "report" was filed in Nov., too late for the budget request cycle, the only way to avoid a potential gap is to get a budget line added.
As for lobbyists, I know one in particular whose work involves only national security work with small(er) companies who, without his help, might never get a fair hearing or get on someone's radar.
As you recently wrote about political labels, I try hard to avoid generalizations, especially when it comes to all things related to DC.
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