Believe it or Not…

Congress said NO when the New York  City’s police and firefighters wanted more money to fight terrorism but said Yes to a study of tropical fish.

          This is the second series of expose pertaining to congressional waste of tax-dollars spent on trivial legislations under so-called bills of local applications.

          The first series also dwelled on appropriations approved by Congress which are viewed in general,   by the American taxpayers as dirty politics which took taxpayers to the cleaners, so to speak.

          With permission of the Inquirer, I am herewith quoting some excerpts of its article dated Feb.24, 2004  of its investigation.

         Congress said NO when the New York  City’s police and firefighters wanted more money to fight terrorism but said Yes to a study of tropical fish. The reason PORK for solons!

          According to its investigation, it found that a whopping $22.5 billion in pork-barrel spending was inserted in the last minute into the $390-billion dollar Omnibus Appropiations Bill.

 And there were at least 9,362 pork barrel projects allocated for their own districts and States a devise to assure their own re-election.

                    Because members of the House of Representatives were not given the normal 3-day review period of legislation, the Omnibus bill moved through Congress like a greased pig,said the National Taxpayers Union told the Inquirer.

          Too bad this pig eats tax dollars instead of slop ! The $50,000 approved by congress provided to fight the feral hogs in Missouri might have been better spent to fight the fiscal hogs on Capitol, Hill.

This  past monumental pork bill include the following, and I quote, to wit:

(a)              $10-million dollars for Alaskan Seafood Marketing Board to promote wild salmon.

(b)             $4-million for Int. Fertilizer Development Center.

(c)              $2.5 million to the Orangutang Foundation.

(d)             $1.8 million for the study of the life of algae in hot water.

(e)              for  Show-me Aquatic Center in Missouri.

(f)               $1-million for he NA study of bears in Montana.

(g)              $500,000 for research on the health of catfish.

(h)              $500,000 for International Coffee Organization

(i)                450,000 for study of ormanental tropical fish in Hawaii.

(j)                $382,000 for multicolored scenic highway signs in Idaho.

(k)              $250,000 for dogsled  trail improvement in /Alaska.

(l)                $202,500 for building an arena for National Peanut Festival In Alabama.

(m)           $180,000 for Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston, Maine, to promoter study of French culture.

(n)              $90,000 for National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in  Ft. Worth, Texas.

          It  was also reported that other lucky recipients include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio , he Please touch Museum I Philadelphia, The Big Bear Zoo in California, the Sea Otter commission in Alaska, and the National Cherry Festival in Michigan.

          Unless there are some controls in place, we can have no confidence that tax dollars are being spent wisely. said Sepp.

          Taxpayers need to speak out now about injustice of these payouts otherwise the pork barrel abuse will keep on rolling along.

          Sen. John.McCain (R-Az) introduced a bill S-173 in an effort to reduce pork that would make it easier for a senator to object to pork barrel projects..

          These amounts may appear small in cost, but  it has priority overnthe lives and welfare of war veterans and US military retirees who have dedicated their lives and future or Uncle Sam who perfidiously  turned as Uncle Swindle.

          Taxpayers are encouraged to e-mail or phone their congressmen and senators  to stop wasting citizen-tax-payer’s money. And pay for obligations with high priority, i.e., veteran’s welfare.

          However  what’s more scandalous is how solons double-cross each other and ram through their bill increasing their salaries,          Rep.B.Filner (D-Ca) was reported so mad when his peers set aside and killed worthy legislations like veterans bills that became casualty to his peer’s notorious abuse ( by voice vote even without a quorum on the  floor).It betrayed his peer (Rep. Bilirakis)  who authored a worthy bill that needed passage. And briskly passed an increase in solons salaries. What a sneak !

          Another abuse reported was the by pushing aside and/or postponing action on a bill and instead inserting the bill increasing salaries of solons.

          This has been abhorred and condemned by taxpayers, but solons could not care any less about the citizen’s anger and protest. But at present,   citizens are now the servants, while the officials in government are the masters. They have turned this government into  democrazy.

          Was former Prime Minister Winston Churchill correct in saying that Democracy is the worse system of Government?The American people’s reply was a resounding Yes.But also criticized U.K’s system, which eventually succumbed to on man’s civil disobedince the inevitable Mahatama Gandhi.

          This nation therefore quietly sinks under the quagmire of  immorality and joyless world. Under obtaining  callous government lawlessness unchecked.