Ky. congressman has well-lubed operation
Whoa.
I know it’s not cold hard cash stashed in a freezer, but still … the amount of money involved is a little mind-boggling.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has funneled more than $236 million in federal funds since 2000 to a web of nonprofit groups he created back home in the Bluegrass State, according to a new report by an ethics watchdog group.
Another group of private firms linked to Rogers and the nonprofit companies received another $227 million in federal loans, grants and contracts during the same period, a three-month investigation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found.
Rogers’ family members, current and former aides, donors and business associates have benefited personally from the congressman’s largesse with federal dollars, according to the report. For instance, Rogers’ son, John, worked for one Kentucky company – Senture – that received a $4 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security with Rogers’ help back in 2004. Senture, which has now added offices in several other states, announced last year that it would receive contracts from several other federal agencies, including the Veterans Administration and Education Department….
The nonprofit groups set up by Rogers comprise an alphabet soup of acronyms: the Center for Rural Development, Inc. (CRD), Forward in the Fifth, Inc. (FIF), Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corporation, Inc. (SKED), Southern & Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association, Inc. (TOUR SEKY), Eastern Kentucky Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment, Inc. (PRIDE), Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education, Inc. (UNITE), and the National Institute for Hometown Security, Inc. (NIHS).
“
That’s $560 million — more than a half a billion. At that rate, the good congressman from Kentucky will be getting into real money sometime soon.
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400 comments Add your comment
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:22 pm
“Thanks for making my day!”
Not a problem. I, unlike many on this blog, don’t have a problem bashing BOTH sides of the aisle.
Thulsa Doom
April 26th, 2011
12:22 pm
77.4% of the voters in his electorate re-elected him? This is the whole problem with how stupid we are as Americans. Everybody knows how corrupt and rotten Congress is but everybody thinks their congressman is fine and that its everybody else who has the corrupt Congressman. It really is amazing. Nobody seems to realize their own Congressman is part of the problem.
And while Jay is obviously bashing a Republican I’m sure any reasonable person on here knows that both parties have their fair share of pork barrel spending re-election oriented crooks passing out the goodies to their electorate.
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:23 pm
Oh goody…unless Jay deletes a previous post…FIRSTIES BIAATCH!
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
12:23 pm
SoCo,
We’re gonna get Peadawg on our side — just wait. Should I do the Red Rover call?
Jefferson
April 26th, 2011
12:24 pm
Finn, what I’m saying is they could and it WOULD be bad, much like the oil companies taking money from all the other businesses with their price gouging. Somebody here was worshipping profits and the backs of a needed necessity vs profits on optional spending.
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
12:25 pm
Doom,
MY representative only uses money for economic development, don’t cha’ know.
Mr Right
April 26th, 2011
12:25 pm
who made an average of $104,000 per year, ranging from a high of $173,581 to a low of $69,339.”
Sounds like someone who has a gov job !
BMDPD
April 26th, 2011
12:26 pm
Thulsa, oops! You just said reasonable. This is not a party thing. This is a politician thing.
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:26 pm
“We’re gonna get Peadawg on our side — just wait. Should I do the Red Rover call?”
Not going to happen. I don’t like ANY form of subsidies/welfare and think all should get cut. Liberals, for the most part, only don’t like them for businesses.
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
12:26 pm
Peadawg,
Blog god doesn’t care if you use the word “bitch” — well, as long as you don’t actually call anyone that.
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
12:27 pm
USinUK,
Carrot cake? Blech. What a waste of perfectly good cake to put carrots and raisins in it. Blech. But that creme cheese icing is quite delicious.
BMDPD
April 26th, 2011
12:28 pm
It is amazing how Bart Gordon of TN got extra money for hospitals just after approving the healhcare bill. This is frustrating, but if you want to bring out the bad in one, then you need to bring out the bad in all. Jay, you are only telling half the story. Most if not all scumbag politicians do this stuff.
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:28 pm
“Blog god doesn’t care if you use the word “bitch” — well, as long as you don’t actually call anyone that.”
Biatch sounds better
. It isn’t as mean/direct but it still gets the job done.
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
12:28 pm
“I don’t like ANY form of subsidies/welfare and think all should get cut”
We know Peadawg, especially women who go through pharmacy drive throughs and won’t pay 50 cents for a prescription but drives a cadillac and spends 30 on her nails, right??
Did you ever seek therapy for that?
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:29 pm
“We know Peadawg, especially women who go through pharmacy drive throughs and won’t pay 50 cents for a prescription but drives a cadillac and spends 30 on her nails, right??”
Yup, especially them!
BMDPD
April 26th, 2011
12:31 pm
Pea, I agree with you. Spending cuts across the board. Then when, the government proves that they can be fiscally responsible, they can also raise taxes across the board. We are all Americans.
Mick
April 26th, 2011
12:34 pm
I agree, spending cuts across the board, go back to clinton era tax levels and we might be seeing some daylight in a few years…
Mick
April 26th, 2011
12:36 pm
Additionally, end all wars, and foster in a new era of isolationism and mercantilism…
RB from Gwinnett
April 26th, 2011
12:39 pm
Hmmm…. At first glance, I was thinking Jay might have actually found a story with some merit. However, as is normal for stories the intellectually dishonst Jay Bookman writes, I thought it might be worth a closer look. It appears Jay left out quite a few minor details such as….
Rogers wasn’t the chairman when all this money was appropriated since 2000. He didn’t become chairman until 2011.
He says family members worked for these companies, but only mentiones one son, John, who “worked” for a firm that received some funding. How about a little more info on the timing of when he worked there, how long, what he did there, and how he benefitted from what funding, Jay. You know, the kind of info a JOURNALIST would provide.
Jay also left out this tidbit from the story…
“Rogers’ influence back home will only grow now that he is chairman of the Appropriations Committee, despite an earmark ban instituted by House Republicans at the start of this Congress and now grudgingly adopted by both chambers, according to CREW. Rogers earmarked more than $250 million in the 111th Congress alone, but he signed onto the earmark ban as part of his successful campaign to win the gavel at House Appropriations from Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).”
Oh, you mean as committee chairman he can’t earmark any funding to these organizations??? So this is a non story, right?!!
Maybe if you could find it in yourself to be objective for just a day, Jay, people might consider you more than just a pathetic hyper partisan hack….
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
12:39 pm
Not going to happen. I don’t like ANY form of subsidies/welfare and think all should get cut.
Peadawg isn’t a socialist, I guess. I have to agree – no tax breaks for anything – no 1040 itemization, no small business tax breaks, not corporate welfare. If you can’t run a business without help from the government, shut it down.
Southern Comfort
April 26th, 2011
12:41 pm
Bosch
Peadawg will remain center right. If he is to elevate from grasshopper to EOI, he must be as non partisan as possible.
Peadawg
I prefer the spelling beeyatch!
Logical Dude
April 26th, 2011
12:41 pm
I agree with Peadawg on across the board cuts for EVERYTHING. Everybody needs to feel the pain NOW, because if we don’t feel a little bit of the pain now, it’s going to get progressively worse and worse.
The Thing that should get cut even MORE is Defense spending. We should be able to close about 30 bases in areas of the world that are peaceful. We should also go by our “We will stand down as they stand up” philosophy in Iraq. What are we still doing there? They’re running themselves now, right?
In Afghanistan, well. . . until they WANT to fix themselves, nobody can fix them. We can slowly withdraw, and support the people that we can, but until they REALLY want to govern themselves peacefully, we can’t make them. And nobody has been able to change that for centuries.
So, we should stand down as a standing army, and only continue to fight the actual terrorists. Fighting actual terrorists takes intel and cunning, not a standing army.
Social Security and Medicare are easy to fix. Just fix the retirement age to life expectancy and we’re good to go. Subtract 10 years from life expectancy and you get your new retirement age!
carlosgvv
April 26th, 2011
12:41 pm
USinUK 11:26
This article just talks about it. How is it weeding it out?
RB from Gwinnett
April 26th, 2011
12:42 pm
BTW, if 77% of people in your district vote for you, it’s pretty likely any funding you send to your district will go to your donors and supporters, Jay. That’s not a news story; it’s simple math.
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:45 pm
Finn, you agreed with half of my statement. Notice the word, “ANY”. Welfare for the poor and elderly need to be reduced as well.
carlosgvv
April 26th, 2011
12:45 pm
Finn McCool 11:21
I will try to make this simple so that even you will understand.
We taxpayers don’t want to pay more because the politicians are wasting a lot of the money we are already paying.
Paul
April 26th, 2011
12:46 pm
Anybody notice how Ryan’s budget didn’t cut any of this stuff? The easy half a billion?
I guess he thinks the millionaires’re getting a big enough tax cut -
Joe Mama
April 26th, 2011
12:48 pm
RB: “Maybe if you could find it in yourself to be objective for just a day, Jay, people might consider you more than just a pathetic hyper partisan hack….”
Do you understand the difference between a news story and an op-ed column?
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
12:48 pm
Here’s another point I want to make on the whole subsidizing the theme park thing from this morning:
The company should do it’s research to KNOW if they can make a profit by building a theme park in Georgia. If they can make profits – build it. If not, don’t build it. There is an element of business risk involved that they are passing on to the tax payers. When they request subsidies, they are saying they want the tax payers to take all the risks involved. If they want us to subsidize the business – for example let’s say 30% of start-up costs – then Georgia should own 30% of the business.
If they start a theme park that loses money every year, guess who gets stuck with the bill?
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:50 pm
Very interesting, RB.
Logical Dude
April 26th, 2011
12:50 pm
Peadawg: Welfare for the poor and elderly need to be reduced as well.
Toss in a WHOLE BUNCH more outrage for Welfare for the Huge corporations, and we’ll be on the same page.
Why should Huge Corporations keep getting all the breaks? Just two or three of those huge corporations getting off Corporate Welfare will be able to pay for ALL of the “poor and elderly” welfare, because, you see, they’re POOR.
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:52 pm
“Toss in a WHOLE BUNCH more outrage for Welfare for the Huge corporations, and we’ll be on the same page.”
Again, notice such words as ANY, ALL, and AS WELL.
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
12:52 pm
Capital flows to profits and profits are partly the result of sound business decision making. The fact a company needs government subsidies suggests the bankers have already looked at the project and deemed it not profitable – otherwise they would be all over it.
RB from Gwinnett
April 26th, 2011
12:54 pm
“Do you understand the difference between a news story and an op-ed column?”
Yes, I do!!
The better question is does Jay understand the difference between a journalist and a hyper partisan hack with a podium. As long as he continues to claim he’s a journalist, that will be the standard he’s held to. If he will just publicly admit he has no journalistic standards and is in fact nothing more than a hyper partisan hack, I’ll stop criticizing his pathetic journalism.
Do you get it?
maude
April 26th, 2011
12:54 pm
I propose a tax on blog bloviators!
Scooter (The Original)
April 26th, 2011
12:56 pm
SHOCKING! The citizenry centralizes so much power and control into so few and we are to be surprised when the few take care of their own. What kind of freaking fool believes in altruistic politicians?
Logical Dude
April 26th, 2011
12:56 pm
Peadawg: Again, notice such words as ANY, ALL, and AS WELL
I did notice, but you singled out the poor and elderly in that post.
Come to think of it, did ANY of those non-profits taking government money hire any poor people, or just give more rich people paid board positions?
Peadawg
April 26th, 2011
12:57 pm
“I did notice, but you singled out the poor and elderly in that post.”
I was simply adding to Finn’s comment about corporate welfare.
getalife
April 26th, 2011
12:57 pm
“Thanks Jay. I hope I can be as big a man as you have been should the need arise”
No, you will not.
Logical Dude
April 26th, 2011
12:59 pm
Scooter: What kind of freaking fool believes in altruistic politicians?
I WANT to believe!!
Thulsa Doom
April 26th, 2011
1:00 pm
Paul
April 26th, 2011
12:46 pm
Anybody notice how Ryan’s budget didn’t cut any of this stuff? The easy half a billion?
Paul,
No. I haven’t read Ryan’s budget. Frankly I have zero faith in either party doing anything to cut out the pork. I hate to be such a pessimist but it is my firm belief that Congress changes people. I think the freshman republican class went in there with the right intentions of stopping the looting of the country. But give them 1 or 2 terms and they will be just as egotistical, just as corrupt, and just as wicked with the taxpayers dollars as the congressman there of both parties already are.
Both parties have philosophical differences that seem enormous but when you get right down to it there really isn’t that much difference between them- they just make us think there is. The difference is in their public rhetoric but in their actions I just don’t see a lot of a difference in terms of pork barrel spending.
John Birch
April 26th, 2011
1:00 pm
Still ducking the real story of the day, which is 18.3% of personal income in the US now comes from Uncle Sam, having grown from less than 2% 80 years ago. We have created a permanent, dependent entitlement class, which will continue to expand and destroy the economic health of the country. But Bookman thinks this is a good thing.
Southern Comfort
April 26th, 2011
1:00 pm
Paul
The GOP has also agreed to almost double the debt ceiling by voting in favor of the Ryan budget. You don’t hear that point being made either.
Joe Mama
April 26th, 2011
1:01 pm
RB — “Yes, I do!!”
It’s pretty clear you don’t, since you’re demanding some sort of balance in this editorial piece. Op-eds generally do not admit of much balance; see Messrs. Wingfield, Barr and Wooten for further examples of same.
“The better question is does Jay understand the difference between a journalist and a hyper partisan hack with a podium.”
Yes! Yes, he does!
A journalist works for the AJC and said hacks with podiums work for World Nut Daily. (laughing)
“As long as he continues to claim he’s a journalist, that will be the standard he’s held to.”
What, exactly, is *your* personal experience with journalistic standards?
“If he will just publicly admit he has no journalistic standards and is in fact nothing more than a hyper partisan hack, I’ll stop criticizing his pathetic journalism.”
You clearly didn’t notice that the “hyper partisan” hackery you’re decrying was linked to from somewhere else. (pointing, laughing)
“Do you get it?”
Sure! Likely Fox News viewer with an axe to grind.
John Birch
April 26th, 2011
1:02 pm
T Doom – Think term limits and balanced budget amendments.
Don't Tread
April 26th, 2011
1:04 pm
The government spends our money on stupid stuff like this but yet we don’t pay enough taxes, according to Democrats. It’s long past time to get serious about the spending issue.
All of you who want to increase the tax burden, go ahead and pony up, since it’s such a great idea.
Logical Dude
April 26th, 2011
1:05 pm
RB: The better question is does Jay understand the difference between a journalist and a hyper partisan hack with a podium
I wouldn’t actually call him “hyper partisan” as the article today could have been either party at any time in the last 50 years.
I definitely would call Jay Partisan since, well, he is!
Although I am getting suspicious on the similar posting of Jay and Cynthia, and the other day, Luckovich. Usually they write their own things, and ne’er do the topics meet. But over the last 2 – 3 weeks, there has been at least 3 posts each that crossed topics.
Thulsa Doom
April 26th, 2011
1:08 pm
John Birch,
That is the only hope I see- term limits and balanced budget amendments. If governors can balance budgets then why can’t presidents? As for term limits I’m surprised that this issue has been dormant again for awhile. It occasionally comes up but interestingly enough no one is talking about it anymore. We’re becoming like Rome- rotting from the inside and collapsing from within.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:09 pm
Jay…..your point?
Logical Dude
April 26th, 2011
1:09 pm
Don’t Tread: The government spends our money on stupid stuff like this but yet we don’t pay enough taxes, according to Democrats
Do you realize the HUGE fiscal hole that we are in as a country?????
If you did, you’d realize that we need BOTH: Spending cuts AND raising taxes. One or the other may reduce the yearly deficit and maybe even balance the budget. Even with a balanced budget we are still IN THE HOLE UNTIL THE DEBT IS PAID OFF.
Not sure why some people just DON’T GET IT.
Joe Mama
April 26th, 2011
1:10 pm
What Logical Dude just said. :1
Jay
April 26th, 2011
1:10 pm
Well let’s see, RB. Yes, he just became chairman of appropriations, but he’s been a powerful force on that committee for a long time. In 2003, for example, Rogers became chair of the Homeland Security subcommittee on appropriations, which helps explain how he got $52 million for the “National Institute for Hometown Security,” which he himself founded, in his district. And while earmarks have been killed, at least temporarily, Rogers is also skilled at steering grants to favored groups in his district, which has received an estimated $63 million through that means since 2000.
In addition to funding his son’s employer, Rogers also got $5 million to support research into wild cats, which is interesting in part because his daughter works for the Cheetah Conservation Fund, in Namibia. He is also a part owner in the local Citizens National Bank, which most of the nonprofits in question happen to put their federal largess.
But yeah, you’re right. Nothing to see here at all.
Also, as CREW notes:
“When the “reformed” Rep. Rogers retains money in the budget for Rural Business Enterprise Grants awarded through the Agriculture Department, he’s speaking in code. Money from those programs, and others at agencies ranging from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Department of Education, has a tendency to flow to the entities in Rep. Rogers’ web.”
John Birch
April 26th, 2011
1:10 pm
Logical – That’s because when the news of the day is Obama staff member caught with prostitute or most Americans favor Republican budget plan, Jay writes some drivel about the state or some Rep in another state who we don’t know or care about. At least Cynthia ocasionally has the integrity to critiize the Dems, the King family, etc., but Jay is 100% partisan hack.
Libertarian
April 26th, 2011
1:11 pm
Washington waste and corruption?
Nothing new here.
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
1:12 pm
Everyone is for cutting spending – but not for cutting the services they use or rely on.
One person can call a service useless or a waste but someone else is probably using that service or relying on it.
larry
April 26th, 2011
1:14 pm
Hal Rogers- Nathan Deal , Nathan Deal – Hal Rogers
Members of the CREW crew.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:14 pm
Finn…..Everyone is for cutting spending….but not for cutting the services they or rely on…..
hmmmm…so you must be dependant on Medicare and Welfare. I feel sorry for ya.
larry
April 26th, 2011
1:19 pm
Just remember you can not spell corruption without two R’s .
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:19 pm
Did everyone leave?
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
1:19 pm
“but you singled out the poor and elderly in that post”
I’ve never had a problem with tax payer dollars being used to help the elderly or people who care for them.
RB from Gwinnett
April 26th, 2011
1:19 pm
Joe, would it be OK with you if Fox News were the only news channel available on your TV?
With the totally one sided “opinions” at the AJC, that’s exactly what the city of Atlanta has in it’s newspaper.
Think about how that works in reverse.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:20 pm
Larry…..and you cant spell deception witout a D.
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
1:21 pm
With the totally one sided “opinions” at the AJC, that’s exactly what the city of Atlanta has in it’s newspaper.
Hardly. Go check out Kyle.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:21 pm
RB….agreed and the funny thing is that Georgia IS a red state.
HEY AJC….KEEP TRYING!!
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
1:21 pm
“Nothing to see here at all. ”
These are not the droids you’re looking for.
Oh, okay, these are not the droids we are looking for.
Move along.
Okay, move along.
larry
April 26th, 2011
1:22 pm
I’ve never had a problem with tax payer dollars being used to help the elderly or people who care for them.
Add to that the disabled too.
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
1:22 pm
“With the totally one sided “opinions” at the AJC, that’s exactly what the city of Atlanta has in it’s newspaper. ”
Yeah, Wooten, Wingfield, and Barr are all just chopped liver.
Moderate Line
April 26th, 2011
1:23 pm
A record 18.3% of the nation’s total personal income was a payment from the government for Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, unemployment benefits and other programs in 2010. Wages accounted for the lowest share of income — 51.0% — since the government began keeping track in 1929.
From 1980 to 2000, government aid was roughly constant at 12.5%. The sharp increase since then — especially since the start of 2008 — reflects several changes: the expansion of health care and federal programs generally, the aging population and lingering economic problems.
“What’s frightening is the Baby Boomers haven’t really started to retire,” says University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes of the 77 million people born from 1946 through 1964 whose oldest wave turns 65 this year. “That’s when the cost of Medicare will start to explode.”
ragnar danneskjold
April 26th, 2011
1:24 pm
Perhaps now the spendocrats will agree that we need to cut spending before we raise taxes.
larry
April 26th, 2011
1:24 pm
Mr. Rogers sounds like he had his own jobs program much like our Mr. Deal. His own jobs program for certain people that is.
willie lynch
April 26th, 2011
1:24 pm
John Birch
April 26th, 2011
1:10 pm
Most Americans don’t favor the Repugnican(Ryan)budget plan. Even if an Obama “staff” member gets caught with a prostitute, is he costing you half a billion dollars?
So Mr. Bookman writes about a Rep. in a state that you don’t know or care about, who is costing you half a million dollars, but you would rather hear about a prostitute. You guy’s are hillarious!
Lil' Barry Bailout
April 26th, 2011
1:26 pm
SoCo: The GOP has also agreed to almost double the debt ceiling by voting in favor of the Ryan budget. You don’t hear that point being made either.
——–
So Ryan’s curs aren’t deep emough for you?
Do you support raising the debt ceiling without making substantial reforms? I think that’s just dangerous.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:26 pm
Willie….”costing” you half a million dollars??? hahahah please explain. This should be good!
RB from Gwinnett
April 26th, 2011
1:26 pm
“Rogers is also skilled at steering grants to favored groups in his district, which has received an estimated $63 million through that means since 2000.”
Just curious, Jay. Did anyone in congress with a “D” by their name secure any earmarks for their districts? Or was it just this one R?
Was any of the money sent to these organizations squandered, Jay? Used in inappropriate manners, laundered, wasted, embezzeled by family members, anything? Basically, Jay, has the man done anything wrong or illegal that you can report?
Or is this just your way of casting doubt because he has an R by his name in your usual hyper partisan pathetic hack way?
BTW, if the man can’t agree with the earmark ban, I hope the R’s in his district send him home. This earmark crap needs to stop.
Lil' Barry Bailout
April 26th, 2011
1:27 pm
Dadblame iPhone spellcheck
Thulsa Doom
April 26th, 2011
1:27 pm
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
1:19 pm
“but you singled out the poor and elderly in that post”
I’ve never had a problem with tax payer dollars being used to help the elderly or people who care for them.
Bosch,
Even most conservatives like myself believe in a social safety net to help the poorest of the poor or the elderly, the infirm, etc. I think where we differ is that I do not support the idea of supporting people who choose to live off the govt as a lifestyle- in other words government dependency, especially when it comes to able bodied men and women who simply refuse to work or to help themselves.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:27 pm
Willie….I just called my bank just to make sure and a half a million dollars has not been withdrawn.
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
1:27 pm
Legalize prostitution so we can reduce instances of rape and get clean hookers in the process!
Wouldn’ this be a better place to live if everyone was within 30 minutes of a happy ending?
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:29 pm
Finn…we are, there are asian massage parlors on every corner!
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
1:29 pm
Republicans can’t say what or how they will make spending cuts BUT we catch a guy red-handed in Kentucky and the Republicans want to ignore it.
You folks are the nuttiest group.
ODDOWL
April 26th, 2011
1:30 pm
Posters who repeat their posts do so because they know that no one is reading their drivel.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:30 pm
Finn…what are the R’s ignoring?
Paulo977
April 26th, 2011
1:31 pm
“nonprofit companies received another
$227 million in federal loans, grants ”
USinUK…now, now, isn’t this what REAL
laissez-faire is all about ? Leave us the hell alone?
Finn McCool
April 26th, 2011
1:32 pm
UGA, do you have to comment on every post? Is it lonely in the house after your parents go to work? Perhaps you need to get a dog.
willie lynch
April 26th, 2011
1:32 pm
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:26 pm
I stand corrected. It’s half a billion according to the article.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:34 pm
Finn….we all have a dog he is called Mr. Barack Hussein Obama….come on…good boy….you can do it.
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
1:35 pm
” I think where we differ is that I do not support the idea of supporting people who choose to live off the govt as a lifestyle”
No Doom, we don’t differ on that at all. I think where we differ is that I do not feel the need or have the ability to judge people based on prejudice.
jm
April 26th, 2011
1:35 pm
Smaller government is better government. When will you turkeys get it? All the money is pilfered in one way or another.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:35 pm
Willie….but you said Million not Billion….Oh I get it when your lord Obama is spending Trillions it really doesnt matter if we are talking Millions or Billions. Nice Post!
Logical Dude
April 26th, 2011
1:37 pm
For your consumption: From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt)
How much is our WHOLE COUNTRY WORTH? Gross domestic product (GDP) refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period..
2010’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) = $14.66 trillion.
As of March 25, 2011, the Total Public Debt Outstanding of the United States of America was $14.26 trillion.
So, what you basically have is a country where if you SPENT EVERYTHING YOU HAD, EVERYTHING YOU MAKE, AND EVERYTHING YOU SAVED, you would barely cover the actual debt.
Any questions? (okay, I gotta go be a good capitalist, so check wikipedia if you have any questions)
Joe Mama
April 26th, 2011
1:37 pm
RB — “Joe, would it be OK with you if Fox News were the only news channel available on your TV?”
No, but I bet it would suit you if Fox News were the only channel available on my TV.
“With the totally one sided “opinions” at the AJC, that’s exactly what the city of Atlanta has in it’s newspaper.”
Well, there’s Jay and Cynthia on one side, and Kyle and Rootin’ Tootin; Jim Wooten on the other side, plus about half of Bob Barr on that side, too, so I’d venture that the AJC editorial section’s slightly more tilted *at* you than *away from* you.
“Think about how that works in reverse.”
Think about what I just said.
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
1:38 pm
“Oh I get it when your lord Obama is spending Trillions it really doesnt matter”
Other than the stimulus package early in his tenure and the auto bail outs which have been repaid, what has Obama spent money on that is any different than previous administrations?
jonas
April 26th, 2011
1:38 pm
Who Are The Biggest Porkers: New Report Details Earmark Spending
For those who work for a living and don’t feel a need to deal with insecurities by hiding behind cute blog names sites like ABCnews provide nice data on the garbage from both sides of the aisle. Good work Jay uncovering the Kentucky dude- maybe later you can give us your aunt’s recipe for buttermilk biscuits. stay tuned… story developing
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:39 pm
Bosch….would you like to see the tab for Obamacare. I mean the actual number not the number he lied about?
carlosgvv
April 26th, 2011
1:39 pm
Thulsa Doom
Just exactly who are these people who “choose to live off the Govt. as a lifestyle” and how much money per year per person does the Govt. give them?
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:39 pm
Bosch….what about the cost per day being spend in Libya?
Misty Fyed
April 26th, 2011
1:39 pm
Ok… It’s time for Congress to have it’s own Office of Inspector General funded by the 50 state governments. Too easy for Congress to kill investigations by cutting funding.
UGA1999
April 26th, 2011
1:40 pm
Carlos….seriously…you must really like getting that gubament check twice a month. Nice work.
Thulsa Doom
April 26th, 2011
1:40 pm
willie lynch,
You can’t possibly believe its only Republicans who dispense this kind of largesse. Both sides have congressman who reel in enormous amounts of pork dollars. Just a fact of life and if you believe the Dems don’t do any of this pork spending then you must also believe in the tooth fairy.
Here we have a Republican throwing around a half billion in pork. Nancy Pelosi and a Dem controlled Congress threw nearly a trillion in wasteful spending at us called the stimulus.
Which is worse- a half billion or nearly a trillion dollars?
Bosch
April 26th, 2011
1:42 pm
“Nancy Pelosi and a Dem controlled Congress threw nearly a trillion in wasteful spending at us called the stimulus. ”
One third of the stimulus was tax breaks.