Pork Barrel as Usual; Backtracking on Promises
A Yahoo news article today entitled 'Democrats hide pet projects from voters' by Andrew Taylor indicates what is wrong with Washington politicians and why Americans get disillusioned with the system. Unfortunately however, Americans rarely hold their actual representives responsible by voting them from office.
The problem is manifesting itself in the form of a failure of Democrats to follow rules they composed as recently as January of this year. The rules were intended to provide greater openness with respect to pork barrel spending. Democrats are misusing legislative procedures to prevent pork barrel expenditures from being effectively challenged until September when bills, already through the Senate-House compromise procedures, cannot be amended. Individual projects- the hallmark of pork- would be home free and the taxpayers will be out to the tune of billions of dollars.
The man responsible for much of this is Rep. David Obey, D-Wis. Obey has offered the weak excuse that Appropriations Committee members and have not had sufficient time for review. How many of us could get away with such time excuses where we work? Then again few of us are as rich and powerful as United States congressmen.
This site explains Obey's influence over appropriations matters. From the site (in blue):
The Committee on Appropriations, which makes funding decisions on every discretionary program in the federal budget. Dave is the Chairman of the Committee. In that capacity, he serves as a member of all twelve Appropriations Subcommittees, listed below:
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food & Drug Admin. and Related Agencies
Defense
Energy and Water Developement
Financial Services and General Government
Homeland Security
Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
Legislative Branch
Military Construction, Veterans Administration, and Related Agencies
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
As Chairman, Dave serves as the spokesman for the House of Representatives on appropriations issues.
Sadly this looks like business as usual from a party that recently promised voters there would be a change of course.
The problem is manifesting itself in the form of a failure of Democrats to follow rules they composed as recently as January of this year. The rules were intended to provide greater openness with respect to pork barrel spending. Democrats are misusing legislative procedures to prevent pork barrel expenditures from being effectively challenged until September when bills, already through the Senate-House compromise procedures, cannot be amended. Individual projects- the hallmark of pork- would be home free and the taxpayers will be out to the tune of billions of dollars.
The man responsible for much of this is Rep. David Obey, D-Wis. Obey has offered the weak excuse that Appropriations Committee members and have not had sufficient time for review. How many of us could get away with such time excuses where we work? Then again few of us are as rich and powerful as United States congressmen.
This site explains Obey's influence over appropriations matters. From the site (in blue):
The Committee on Appropriations, which makes funding decisions on every discretionary program in the federal budget. Dave is the Chairman of the Committee. In that capacity, he serves as a member of all twelve Appropriations Subcommittees, listed below:
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food & Drug Admin. and Related Agencies
Defense
Energy and Water Developement
Financial Services and General Government
Homeland Security
Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
Legislative Branch
Military Construction, Veterans Administration, and Related Agencies
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
As Chairman, Dave serves as the spokesman for the House of Representatives on appropriations issues.
Sadly this looks like business as usual from a party that recently promised voters there would be a change of course.
Labels: Politics
posted by Paul at 8:02 PM
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