Government Spending Gone Wild!

The following post is a humorous look at the pork that was stuffed into the Hurricane Sandy bill.  Can't we just get a clean bill relating ONLY to the subject matter?  No wonder we have such problems, every bill is stuffed with goodies for other constituencies.  

Tell us your opinion of this or any other item that has upset you in the past 39 years!

Conservative Tom

Hurricane Sandy pork

About Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell
Freelance Columnist
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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By Tom Purcell

Published: Saturday, December 29, 2012, 8:04 p.m.Updated: Saturday, December 29, 2012 

Many news outlets are reporting that President Obama‘s proposed $60.4 billion federal aid bill for Hurricane Sandy victims is packed with pork. I contacted my White House insider, Deep Mole, to get some answers.

Purcell: Isn‘t this another example of reckless politicians exploiting an emergency to fund pet projects and pork?

Deep Mole: Pet projects? Pork? There is no pork in the president‘s proposal.

Purcell: You‘re nuts. As this bill worked its way through the Senate before Christmas, Democrats slipped in all kinds of non-emergency goodies. Then they offered more goodies to Republicans to win their support.

Deep Mole: Goodies?

Purcell: Why does the bill include $2 million to repair roof damage at Smithsonian buildings in Washington, D.C.?

Deep Mole: The Smithsonian is a national treasure that Sandy victims may one day visit. We must make sure they are not traumatized by leaky museum roofs!

Purcell: Nice try, my friend. Why does the emergency bill include $336 million for Amtrak-related expenses?

Deep Mole: Amtrak is a common mode of transportation for New York residents to travel to Washington and go to the Smithsonian. We must make sure Sandy victims are not traumatized by broken-down trains.

Purcell: You are clever. Then explain why the emergency bill includes $8 million to buy new cars for federal agencies.

Deep Mole: Many federal agencies are assisting Sandy victims. They need new cars from government-owned General Motors to drive to the areas where government services are most needed.

Purcell: You‘re good. Then explain why the bill includes $150 million for fisheries in Mississippi and Alaska.

Deep Mole: Hurricane victims are known to work very hard cleaning up their messy homes and burning excess calories. It is essential they have access to high-protein American fish!

Purcell: Then explain how $4 million for repairs at the Kennedy Space Center has anything to do with a hurricane in the Northeast.

Deep Mole: The John F. Kennedy Space Center has launched many historic flights into space, bringing inspiration and hope to millions of Americans. Aren‘t inspiration and hope what Sandy victims need most?

Purcell: Not bad, my friend, but this waste is yet another example of our politicians “not letting a good crisis go to waste.” Our country has almost $16.3 trillion in debt. We are accumulating additional debt at the rate of $150 million an hour — yet the gravy train keeps rolling. Our political leaders are out of control.

Deep Mole: They are?

Purcell: Yes, the Taxpayers for Common Sense explain that the federal government has established a clear definition of what an “emergency” is to determine which incidents or events are worthy of federal relief. Emergency spending should only support something that is necessary, sudden, urgent, unforeseen and not permanent. Those are the rules.

Deep Mole: Rules? The Senate has not passed a budget in more than three years. There are no longer any rules. In our republic the only thing that can stop out-of-control politicians from spending recklessly are the voters — and a majority of them no longer care about what we waste money on, so long as they get their cut.

Purcell: Well, if the pork-laden version of the Sandy bill passes the Senate, the only hope is that the Republican House will do its job and strip out the waste. It is called checks and balances.

Deep Mole: So naive. If Republicans in the House do anything to hold up the bill, the president will tar them for withholding assistance to the victims of Sandy and the media will saturate the airwaves with images of the obliteration Sandy caused. Dumb Republicans can‘t win for losing.

Tom Purcell, a freelance writer, lives in Library. Visit him on the web at TomPurcell.com. E-mail him at:Tom@TomPurcell.com

Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/tompurcell/3201397-74/purcell-deep-mole#ixzz2GeFEVJMk 
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Our Forecast For The 2012 Election

We have hesitated to write this article for the blog until the last moment as we are concerned that it might anger, disappoint, or encourage you depending upon your political persuasion.  The election tomorrow is an important one. One which will have long lasting consequences not only financially but militarily.  Additionally, the next President will be able to appoint two or three Justices to the Supreme Court which will leave an indelible imprint on this country. 

Unfortunately, we believe that President Obama will be re-elected. Our opinion  is based on several issues, some objective and other subjective. They are presented in no special order of importance:

1. The news media's continual support of the President
2. The polls, whether accurate or not, set national opinion
3. The 47%
4. The gridlock in Washington which is reflected in the gridlock in the country
5. Hurricane Sandy


Let us take a second to discuss each of these starting in reverse order. Prior to Hurricane Sandy, the momentum that Romney had,  was another victim of the super storm.  It stopped him in his tracks, threw off the scheduled campaign events and most importantly, allowed President Obama to "appear" Presidential as he walked the New Jersey shoreline with Republican Governor Chris Christy. One could have not created a better media event if you tried. This was such a big plus that anyone who was on the fence might easily be swayed by the news coverage.

Secondly, we have talked many times about the gridlock throughout the country. People are either pro-Republican or pro-Democrat and very few voters are in the "independent" class. The gridlock is not good for this country, nor is is good for Congress. However, when there are few voters in the middle, one small event, mis-spoken word, or moment of inattention can spell disaster.  The voters and Congress are stuck in the mud and neither are willing to move. The result is a very small  minority of voters will elect the President. 

Next, one of the largest and growing problems in this country is what Romney called the "47%."  When a large percentage of the populace derives its income from the government, it would be illogical for them to vote against the hand that is feeding them. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services there are 46.7 million people on food stamps, 5.6 million on unemployment and 4.3 million on welfare as of October 15, 2012. http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/  An additional 58 million are on Medicaid according to FamiliesUSA and many more will be added by 2014 when Obama Care comes fully into force. http://familiesusa.org/issues/medicaid/ 

If you look at all people receiving government checks, which include seniors, the number actually is 49.1%, however, if you exclude Social Security and Medicare, the number is still an unsustainable 35% according to an article in Slate. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/09/romney_says_47_percent_of_americans_receive_direct_government_assistance_is_that_true_.html

So lets use the 35% number instead of the 47%, which means that more than one in three Americans gets a check from the government and are not contributing to it. This is breaking the country and NO politician will do anything about it until a financial catastrophe befalls the US. These 35% will not vote for a fiscal conservatives such as Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney, it would not be in their own best interests. A vast majority of this group will vote for Obama as he has made it clear he will not cut their benefits.

The fourth reason we believe that Obama will be re-elected is that people like to vote for a winner and the polls have been telling us for weeks that he is the presumptive winner. Only a few outlying polls show Romney winning in the important states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire and Virginia. You can't win the Presidency if the polls are against you. The only saving grace would be if the polls had gotten it all wrong, however, all of them can't be that bad!

Lastly, the media "lovefest" with Obama continues even though he has most recently shown his incompetence with Benghazi.  Even there, the media seems  not to be interested in four Americans dying due to Administration total disregard for their safety.  Newscasts blatantly show favoritism by disregarding Obama's mis-steps and overplaying Romney's i.e.the 47%. There seems to be no balance. Americans drink in this sewage the networks produce  and  they do not expose the information to any critical thinking. Whether this is the result of "dumbing down" or the emphasis on celebrity rather than substance, are topics for another day. Today, Obama is a media darling, appearing on the "View" and with late night hosts such as Leno while avoiding Fox entirely. He wants easy shows where there will be no hard questions asked.  Hard questions might cause him to really show his hand.   If he is re-elected, the press can take responsibility. They elected him by their coverage.  

Now you see why we believe that Obama will win. We hope that the election will have its "Truman" moment and that Romney stomps Obama as Michael Barone has predicted.  The only way things can change is that Americans of all stripes come to a moment of truth tonight and make a conscious decision to vote for Romney who will at least attempt to right the ship of state. With Obama, the country will be lost and we will become another Argentina unable to feed ourselves, unable to manufacture anything and unable to provide for our senior citizens. This  would not be the country in which we would like to live, nor do we suspect it is the one you would.

Let's all pray tonight for an enlightened populace. Please make us wrong.

Conservative Tom