About the hold-up in the Sandy relief bill/pork-fest
Liberals’ new favorite Republican is Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor who this week slammed House Republicans for delaying action on a bill with aid for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. (They’ll be back to hating him the next time he goes on an anti-union rant or some such.) As I’ve said before, the real problem lies with those who lard up such bills with extra spending because they know those pet projects have a better chance of passing when attached to such an urgent measure.
Apparently that can be clear even to a politician in the storm-ravaged area, as long as that politician is not a moderate Republican running for re-election in a blue state. From Politicker.com:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously declined to slam House Speaker John Boehner over Congress’ stalled Hurricane Sandy aid, took his argument to the next level this morning and suggested federal lawmakers are partially to blame for the delay in the vote on the package because they insert “things that are totally extraneous” into bills such as this. Although Mr. Bloomberg didn’t specify the extraneous problem items, the legislation has been criticized by Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan for being “packed with funding for unrelated items, such as commercial fisheries in American Samoa and roof repair of museums in Washington, D.C.”
“There’s this ‘Christmas Tree effect’ where legislators put in their favorite bills and tack them onto something. The [Obama] administration does that, that’s why you have an omnibus bill — to force everybody to vote for things that would never stand up in the light of day if they were individual,” Mr. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show with John Gambling. “I’m sympathetic. Yelling and screaming at [Mr. Boehner] is just not my style. It may be effective, it may not be. Everybody’s got to make their own decisions. I think the legislative leaders who criticize and those in the Legislature should stop and think, they do exactly the same thing in terms of ladling on things that are totally extraneous but it’s the only way they get them through.”
Exactly. Those who help wreck the legislative process shouldn’t complain when they find the legislative process is a wreck.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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686 comments Add your comment
Centrist
January 4th, 2013
12:39 pm
Finn McCool posted “When an individual or group of people provide you with the cash necessary to get elected, it shouldn’t be strange that that they expect a few things in return.”
So, should the former Gwinnett County Commissioner and her son have their bribery convictions overturned, or are only local governments accountable for such?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
12:39 pm
“While you are calling waste out, it is slightly amusing that you didn’t call out the Republicans by name and dollars for their pork in that bill? ”
I’m pretty sure that Kyle is under no obligation to write everything you wish to see in a column, Politico.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 4th, 2013
12:41 pm
Where did the neocons get this anger and fear about our government? Would you prefer a government like Russia’s? Somali’s? Canada’s?
Without guvmint there are no laws, without laws there are no personal property rights, without personal property rights there is no capitalism.
Politico
January 4th, 2013
12:42 pm
How righteous………….
The same blogger who uses the following words and phrases; “poutrage”, “color me shocked” and “I accept your surrender” on a more then regular basis would cry and rant about others being repetitive
Thanks for the laugh at your expense.
Politico
January 4th, 2013
12:43 pm
Tiberius
And I am under no obligation to post anything your cry baby behind wants me to post…
Now get some friends, stop being so bitter and lonely……. and run along
Cutty
January 4th, 2013
12:43 pm
You linked Al Gore/Obama in yesterday’s post. How about pointing out, by name, those Senators asking for all this so-called pork? That you seem to ‘abhor’ one party more than the other is the problem. Democrats don’t particularly care about fisheries in Alaska, but I know two republican senators from that state that probably do.
saywhat?
January 4th, 2013
12:44 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
11:27 am
I’m still wondering why Federal relief is needed at all after a storm. Isn’t that why people buy insurance to begin with?
______________________________________________________________
And I’m still wondering why people still ask stupid questions like this despite them having been answered inumerable times.
Try showing a little personal initiative and look up the answer for yourself. Stop assuming that just because you don’t know the answer, it must not be important.
Here is a little charity work for you, to maybe start you on a path to intellectual curiosity: http://www.fema.gov/disaster-survivor-assistance
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 4th, 2013
12:47 pm
I’m not advocating legalizing bribery, Centrist, what I am saying is that such occurrences shouldn’t be unexpected.
JamVet
January 4th, 2013
12:47 pm
Tibby, you have children’s blood on your hands.
Check!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
12:48 pm
“Without guvmint there are no laws, without laws there are no personal property rights, without personal property rights there is no capitalism.”
Please provide any instance where anyone has called for “no government”, Finn.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
12:49 pm
“And I’m still wondering why people still ask stupid questions like this despite them having been answered inumerable times.”
Really, saywhat?
Then ANSWER IT.
If you can.
Politico
January 4th, 2013
12:49 pm
Tiberius
Have to run little lonely and not so tough fella. Don’t want you get get upset and start sending emails to the AJC and posting about suing the blog host, AJC and other bloggers……..
Aquagirl
January 4th, 2013
12:50 pm
And I’m sure you can cite the specific passage in the U.S. Constitution that authorizes Federal disaster aid.
There is of course no specific passage, of course, like there is no specific passage to build the roads that need repair. (Unless you’re counting them as “post roads” but then that would ruin all the shouting to shut down the Post Office, so maybe you don’t want to take that tack.)
However if you’re against any federal spending except that specifically enumerated in Article I, section 8, your world would really, really really suck. Say goodbye to power grids, water systems, interstate roads, internet…oops, there goes your ability to complain on Kyle’s blog.
On second thought, it might be worth pulling those services if we didn’t have to endure your posts. So I might have to cede this argument to you.
JamVet
January 4th, 2013
12:52 pm
Tibby wants a government small enough to drown it in a bathtub.
(He’s a big Grover fan…)
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
12:57 pm
Love the poutrage this morning, if not for the sad fact that you libs can’t answer a single, simple question.
JamVet
January 4th, 2013
12:57 pm
Tibby is gonna sue me???
Oh Lordy Be!
And just when I was finally recovering from the Bush Depression.
Sigh…
Centrist
January 4th, 2013
1:00 pm
Finn McCool posted “I’m not advocating legalizing bribery, Centrist, what I am saying is that such occurrences shouldn’t be unexpected.”
Agreed. Republicans did the same thing when they were in power – this is an institutional problem.
We only recently got rid of “earmarks” where individual Congresspeople put in goodies to help them with special interests – but evidently pork is still a mainstay on the congressional menu. The line item veto would not have done any good in these cases since the porkers were all Obama campaign constituents and the veto pen would have fallen out of reach under his desk.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 4th, 2013
1:05 pm
Well, seems everyday someone gets their ire raised over wasteful spending. It is a daily occurrence in DC, yet when we talk about reducing spending, the libs come riding in shouting that we need to raise revenue not reduce spending. People are not paying their “fair share”, according to Barry.
I guess if your purpose is to grow government and make more people dependent, you don’t care how much of it is wasted, you just want to get it out of the hands of those, who do not depend on the largess of government to succeed. Those people are constant reminders of old school America, and we can’t have them out there.
Seems to me, if someone put forth some effort to do a forensic analysis of the spending and recommend places we could reduce it substantially, we would have a better idea of how much more revenue we needed. This incessant need to just bring in more, so we can waste more is very off putting to those of us, who have a functioning brain.
Fix the spending!!
Kyle Wingfield
January 4th, 2013
1:05 pm
Cutty @ 12:43: You know two Republican senators from Alaska? I guess someone should tell this guy to give up the charade.
JDW links one op-ed in which the writer examines three pages of a 100-page bill — a 100-page bill that originated at the request of a Democratic president and moved through the Democratic-led Senate — finds a few items that relate to states with GOP senators and determines It’s the Republicans’ Fault! Suddenly, I’m being a partisan for not saying It’s the Republicans’ Fault!
If you would like to comb through the entire 100-page bill and determine all the names of all the senators making all the non-Sandy requests, be my guest. That is a different point than the one I was making, which is that — regardless of whose pork it is — Congress shouldn’t load up a relief bill with lots of unrelated spending and then demand that it be passed immediately without question.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
1:05 pm
Politico just gets so upset when she loses an argument so early and so completely.
Goes off the deep end every time.
MANGLER
January 4th, 2013
1:07 pm
Next time anyone over here wants to yell about the White House not signing the annual budget presented by Congress, I’ll remind you about what pork is and the parts of the budget that fall into that category that cause the WH not to sign it.
independent thinker
January 4th, 2013
1:08 pm
Kyle’s rant about Christie and Northeast Repub. moderates:
“”Apparently that can be clear even to a politician in the storm-ravaged area, as long as that politician is not a moderate Republican running for re-election in a blue state”"”"”"”"”
The truth????
“”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"Why, you might ask, would the Senate be packing billions of taxpayer dollars for these areas of the country that are nowhere near the devastation brought about by superstorm Sandy into a bill designed to bring relief to those suffering from the storm that ripped the northeastern part of the nation?
The answer can be found in a quick review of the states that are set to benefit from the Senate’s extra-special benevolence—states including Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.What, you may ask, do these states far from New York and New Jersey have in common?
Each is not only a red state, but each of these states are represented by two Republican senators—with the exception of Louisiana with its one GOP senator.
And what happens when you buy off seven Republican senators with a package of goodies under the guise of storm relief supposedly meant to benefit two blue states?You get yourself a filibuster proof piece of legislation.Coincidence? Not at all. We know this because Harry Reid told us so in press conference.
We have other important things to do here in the Senate. We have — we’re going on almost two months now without giving relief to the northeast who were struck by that violent storm, Sandy. 700,000 or 800,000 homes destroyed in New Jersey and New York alone. When Irene struck, we acted very quickly. We didn’t have to wait and say, well let’s see, Alabama has two Republican senators, Mississippi has two Republican senators, Texas has two Republican senators, Louisiana has one Republican senator,””"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/01/03/pork-holding-up-senate-sandy-relief-bill-funneled-into-the-troughs-of-gop-deficit-hawks-you-betcha/ ( A severely liberal source-right?) _
Ah the mysterious workings of the cons. Don’t you love it when they blame each other for being too liberal?
Fred
January 4th, 2013
1:10 pm
This is not a RED or BLUE problem. It is a congressional problem. We should not continue to tollerate these additions (PORK) for any reason. With a 16 Trillion debt and a request to raise the debt ceiling it seems it should stop. The outrage needs to come from everyone who pays taxes. The entire congressional group is out of control. They spend money they dont have because they dont fear the ramiification and can simply right it off as part of playing politics in Washington DC. It needs to stop
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
1:10 pm
No so “independent” “thinker” might wish to look at previous posts before citing and linking to the same op-ed piece cited and linked to before.
Kyle Wingfield
January 4th, 2013
1:14 pm
independent @ 1:08: JDW already linked that and I already pointed out its shortcomings. Sorry.
President Romney
January 4th, 2013
1:15 pm
The official Electoral College votes are being called out in Congress. And as you might guess, unlike what many on this blog stated when they said I would win, it didn’t happen.
Good day
Kyle Wingfield
January 4th, 2013
1:18 pm
MANGLER @ 1:07: Congress passing budgets? How quaint.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 4th, 2013
1:23 pm
House just approved a 9.7 Billion dollar Sandy Aid package, guess it will have to go back to the Senate. Someone above said, why don’t they strip the pork and just pass the bill. Well, they did.
The Senate will probably try to add the pork back in, but at least Boehner and the House did the right thing.
It must be so hard for those out of touch politicians, to keep from spending money confiscated from others.
saywhat?
January 4th, 2013
1:25 pm
tiberius -blah blah blah needs to learn to answer his own questions but like a typical conservative, he is too lazy (even read the link I generously provided for him) and is happy to just pretend he knows the answer. Its called low effort thought.
http://psp.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/03/16/0146167212439213.abstract?rss=1
President Romney
January 4th, 2013
1:27 pm
Rafe
The Senators to include the Republicans who helped “pork” up this bill will get mostly what they want. They are voting again on another package in 10 days or so.
Even if they vote “no” on the 2nd package, it will be interesting to see how many Republican Congressmen call out Republican Senators who get their “pork”, especially from their own states.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
1:28 pm
saywhat?, you provided what assistance the Federal government provides, not WHY they should be providing it.
If you want to have an intelligent discussion, you really need to READ what is asked of you.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
1:29 pm
I know that is difficult for you, btw, saywhat?
Towncrier
January 4th, 2013
1:34 pm
“As I’ve said before, the real problem lies with those who lard up such bills with extra spending because they know those pet projects have a better chance of passing when attached to such an urgent measure.”
Why, oh why in the world, cannot those in Congress just draft and vote on singular items of legislation? I mean, really, who votes on things that way in real life? If they want pork spending bills, then draft them separately and pass them with the attitude that “I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine”. What they do now seems incomprehensibly stupid.
President Romney
January 4th, 2013
1:36 pm
This initial package vote is nothing but a PR move by the Speaker. He hasn’t exactly had the best two weeks, so smart move on his part. Today he is showing that he means “business” by having a vote on a pared-down package.
The next vote will be closer than the 1st but the Speaker’s buddies in the Senate will get most of what they want. Of course it will be sold differently to provide cover for the Speaker, but in the end, the results will not be much different. Well except for the time frame and the fact that it will be two bills instead of one.
Towncrier
January 4th, 2013
1:36 pm
“This is not a RED or BLUE problem. It is a congressional problem. We should not continue to tollerate these additions (PORK) for any reason. With a 16 Trillion debt and a request to raise the debt ceiling it seems it should stop. The outrage needs to come from everyone who pays taxes. The entire congressional group is out of control. They spend money they dont have because they dont fear the ramiification and can simply right it off as part of playing politics in Washington DC. It needs to stop.”
Well said, Fred. I agree totally.
Don't Tread
January 4th, 2013
1:38 pm
I suppose if they had only included items directly related to Sandy relief in the bill the first time, it wouldn’t have taken two months to pass…
Aquagirl
January 4th, 2013
1:40 pm
What they do now seems incomprehensibly stupid.
Gotta disagree with you there…Looking at the re-election rate it seems quite smart, if their sole concern is keeping their butts in those seats.
Just Saying..
January 4th, 2013
1:50 pm
Worth the drive-by these days, to see the assembled cons howl at the moon, point fingers at ‘Pub leadership, fearlessly attack hypocrisy in politics, do sack dances over tertiary triumphs…
JDW
January 4th, 2013
1:52 pm
@Kyle…”That is a different point than the one I was making, which is that — regardless of whose pork it is — Congress shouldn’t load up a relief bill with lots of unrelated spending and then demand that it be passed immediately without question.”
In a perfect world maybe that would work…guess what this one is not perfect. Railing about a bill being loaded up with pork and then intimating the blame lies solely with The Administration is what makes you a partisan. Especially a bill that really has little if any totally unrelated pork and the vast majority of any pork seems to have been a direct result of preventing a REPUBLICAN filibuster.
Would it have cost 2 or 3 or maybe even 5 billion in pork to have passed the bill…maybe, but in the overall picture that is less than a rounding error. Now instead of moving on to other more pressing problems Boner and crew have to fix this mess…guess what it is still going to cost $60 billion, maybe even more pork and more importantly time.
You want bills with no pork, great, me too but the system has to be changed first and we can’t stop living in the meantime.
Towncrier
January 4th, 2013
1:53 pm
“Gotta disagree with you there…Looking at the re-election rate it seems quite smart, if their sole concern is keeping their butts in those seats.”
Well…deck chairs on the Titanic, though quite nice, are in the end rather undesirable.
Towncrier
January 4th, 2013
1:55 pm
“You want bills with no pork, great, me too but the system has to be changed first and we can’t stop living in the meantime.”
There are no Congressional “requirements” for pork I am aware of. So the “system” can be changed overnight if so desired.
That Black Guy
January 4th, 2013
1:56 pm
JamVet
January 4th, 2013
12:30 pm
You incompetent neocons are a work of art.
But keep on being the winners you are, just you were this past November, OK?
LOL!
________________________________
Jam, please remember you very own post when you run over to Jay’s and whine that “The neocons over at Kyle’s never want to debate the topic/issue. All they want to do is call names, attack, insult. It’s us on the left that try to have adult conversations, and the cons won’t do it”.
Towncrier
January 4th, 2013
2:01 pm
“Jam, please remember you very own post when you run over to Jay’s and whine that “The neocons over at Kyle’s never want to debate the topic/issue. All they want to do is call names, attack, insult. It’s us on the left that try to have adult conversations, and the cons won’t do it”.”
Hmmm….Good point, TBG.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 4th, 2013
2:02 pm
yle and everyone else,
PLEASE stop besmirching the name of lard and pork. The next thing we know you will be besmirching the name of bacon. What is to follow? Mortadella? Coppa? Genoa Salami?
Godliness is next to bacon-ness, not the other way around.
ODD OWL
January 4th, 2013
2:04 pm
Congress passed the aid bill for hurricane Katrina in 12 days… It was laden down with pork too… Hurricane Sandy occurred more than two months ago and it devastated three times as many homes, businesses and people’s lives as Katrina… The Johnny “one note” Boehner (cut spending) led House Republicans have been removed from all debt/deficit negotiations… The Democrat controlled Senate and the White House will be handling all debt/deficit reduction talks and spending bills from this point forward… The borrow and spend House Republicans only know about running up the debt and deficit… They don’t know a damn thing about reducing it…
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 4th, 2013
2:08 pm
Owl is right, the Senate and White House will be running the country and the House will be consulted only when it is mandatory that they be.
Lynnie Gal
January 4th, 2013
2:08 pm
This is a lie. This Sandy-relief bill isn’t greased with pork like Darrel Issa claims. That’s a far right-wing lie to justify the cruelty they’re inflicting on victims of the storm in NY and NJ. If you want to claim the bill is larded with pork, you need to provide legitimate examples and not make sweeping claims like this.
JamVet
January 4th, 2013
2:09 pm
Whining TBG, please remember your very own post when you run over to Jay’s and show JamVet where he has written that “The neocons over at Kyle’s never want to debate the topic/issue.”
Take your time, Master Debater…
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 4th, 2013
2:10 pm
You can almost feel the extra venom in Kyles remarks these days.
The Republicans are literally re arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic these days.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 4th, 2013
2:12 pm
“Congress passed the aid bill for hurricane Katrina in 12 days”
And Katrina was over 7 years ago, when our debt and deficits weren’t in the emergency zone, ODD OWL.
And they were wrong to pass it even then.
“The Democrat controlled Senate and the White House will be handling all debt/deficit reduction talks and spending bills from this point forward”
And in case you missed it, the U.S. Constitution still hasn’t been repealed, so the Dems can talk all they want together, ODD, but if they refuse to engage the GOP-controlled House, they still won’t get anything passed.