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Sunday, October 05, 2008

Pigs to the Rescue!!!

So...both Presidential candidates have been telling us for months now that they are going to CHANGE Washington, they are going to stop Ear Marks and PorkBarrel spending!
John McCain goes as far as to tell us he will VETO any and all bills that contain them!!
hmmmm...when does he start?
It seems campaign promises are just that 'promises', the things they are only going to do IF we elect them..certainly NOT before!
The $700 BILLION dollar BAIL OUT for Wall Street is a perfect example of what these men truly stand for. John McCain 'pretended' to suspend his campaign then rushed back to Washington to ensure the passage of this historic interference by our government. Well, while he was in Washington, literally doing nothing, his campaign forged ahead. Attack ads continued to clog our air ways and his volunteer troupes continued making calls to put the fear of Obama into the homes of every citizen. *I don't think that is an actual 'suspension'?*
All of McCains silence paid off with the result of the bill NOT passing ...so much for being a MAVERICK ahhahaha guess he left his guns at home.
Barack Obama stayed on the campaign trail, appearing at rally after rally doing his best to explain to the American people why WE needed to bail out the greedy elite of Wall Street and Investment Banking. In the midst of the failed passage I guess we can surmise his point was elusive to those of us working hard every day, paying our bills on time and NOT living outside our means.
But....wait.....as we Americans began to celebrate our victory our government had another card to play...well more like $110 BILLION dollars worth of cards to play...
YEP! They went back to work, wheeling and dealing, making compromise and manipulation the golden crown of politics breathe again!
Insistent on putting the pressure on the House the Senate drafted its own bail out! Doing its best to manipulate the people they adamantly insisted this was no longer a 'Bail Out' it was a 'RESCUE PLAN'.....my question is who were they 'rescuing'?? it certainly wasn't you or me!!
This new plan had an additional $110 BILLION dollars in EAR MARKS ADDED TO IT!!!
hey...you read that RIGHT.....this overloaded PORK BARREL BILL was passed by the Senate in an overwhelming MAJORITY..and yep...BOTH McCAIN & OBAMA VOTED YES!
This 110 page bill grants the Authority to the Secretary of Treasury "to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, troubled assets from any financial institution, on such terms and conditions as are determined by the Secretary,.."
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/28/ayo08c04_xml.pdf
Well I feel better already...how about you?
Now let's talk about that Pork...or should we say 'Sweeteners' of the so-called Rescue Bill.
While the additional $110 BILLION dollars tacked on allowed for the extension of expired or due to expire tax cuts and provisions for Research & Development of alternative energies, it also included wasteful spending.
What they aren't telling us, well very loudly that is, it also includes "..Extending an expired provision that gives Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands a rebate against excise taxes charged on imported rum.." Cost $192 million ( http://www.nypost.com/seven/10032008/news/nationalnews/sweetners_tacked_onto_rescue_plan_132000.htm )
*we all know how important our Rum is to the American Citizen!!!*
Oh and let's not forget the tax extension for us 'Joe Six-Pack Americans' or in this case the Nascar fan... "Extending for one year a seven-year depreciation timetable that NASCAR and other motorsport racing facilities have had for some years,.." *hey what else we got to watch while we drink our six-pack?*
or the "Extending for five years a program that reduces import duties on some wool fabrics..." Cost: $148 million * gonna need those wool sweaters this winter!*
Oh I know you movie buffs are gonna be grateful for this one "Increasing the single-year deduction in production costs, from $15 million to $20 million, that film and TV productions may take if the costs are incurred in economically depressed areas..." Cost: $478 million. *who knows they might make a movie in the Ninth Ward*
And those with children you are going to be so grateful for this one! "Exempting wooden practice arrows used by children from an excise tax of 39 cents per arrow.." Cost: $2 million *hey a kids gotta hunt ya know*
Let's not forget what's being called the 'Lance Armstrong' ear mark "Allowing employers to exempt from taxation what they spend on some fringe benefits for workers who commute to work by bicycle, for example reimbursing the cost of parking the bikes" Cost: $2 million *damn where are they parking these things?*
you view these and ALL the added Pork here:
(http://www.nypost.com/seven/10032008/news/nationalnews/sweetners_tacked_onto_rescue_plan_132000.htm?page=2 )

It was not only a sugar overload but while the bacon was burning our 'CHANGE' candidates were signing away OUR tax dollars! It just didn't matter how many Americans aggressively called or e-mailed their senators and representatives begging them to VOTE NO....NO ONE was listening!
We the People? really? where?
With 159,000 jobs lost in September alone you would think our government could have done better. This mass spending and political push & pull will NOT save ONE job, it will NOT keep ONE homeowner from its already impending foreclosure, it will NOT keep you and me warm this winter, nor our children fed.
$810 BILLION DOLLARS SPENT.....and NOTHING changes for us.
sometimes life has road blocks, sometimes detours, but in this case I do believe we have fallen into the biggest pothole of politics yet!
ahhhh this never ending winding road.....

1 comment:

KyDust said...

I don't understand a lot of what's going on, but it sounds like one gigantic disaster! Thanks for keeping me updated, Jack! Hopefully my voters registration will be processed in time, but even if it is I have no idea who I'm voting for. Everything is just so ridiculous!
Speaking of ridiculous, I need to really post sometime soon, huh? I think I'll wait until after the election because right now you're on fire! Lots of awesome things for you to post about! And plus I've just been so dang busy! At least I'm done with school in December. I always make time to read your blogs, though, so I know what's going on. Thanks Jack, and hopefully I can find time to post sometime later next month when political news slows down! =)