Bring on the pork ...

[Tex]

Republicans release a list of pork in the "stimulus" bill. Take a look and tell me if you think any of these are legit:

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.

• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.

• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.

• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.

• $500 million for state and local fire stations.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.

• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

• $850 million for Amtrak.

• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.

• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by Tex

Republicans release a list of pork in the "stimulus" bill. Take a look and tell me if you think any of these are legit:

The advantage of being in the minority is that you get to vote against bills like this.

[SoCalCoug]

Are you being facetious, Tex? A lot of those look like pretty legitimate expenses. I mean, people need sewers and waste disposal, and stuff.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by SoCalCoug

Are you being facetious, Tex? A lot of those look like pretty legitimate expenses. I mean, people need sewers and waste disposal, and stuff.

I was using the term "legit" in the sense of "legitimate stimulus expenses." I guess we'd have to know more specifics to define exactly how legitimate they are in the broader sense of Washington spending, but regardless, this is not stimulus. This is pork.

Or perhaps you'd like to make the case for how $125m for Washington sewers stimulates the economy.

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by Tex

I was using the term "legit" in the sense of "legitimate stimulus expenses." I guess we'd have to know more specifics to define exactly how legitimate they are in the broader sense of Washington spending, but regardless, this is not stimulus. This is pork.

Or perhaps you'd like to make the case for how $125m for Washington sewers stimulates the economy.

This kind of pork is in practically any bill, regardless of what the advertised purpose of the bill is. Like I said, you get to vote against this if you're in the minority without suffering any political fallout.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by SoCalCoug

Are you being facetious, Tex? A lot of those look like pretty legitimate expenses. I mean, people need sewers and waste disposal, and stuff.

My complaint is, it's couched as an economic stimulus package, i.e., creating jobs and infusing capital and liquidity into the market to create other jobs, yet instead his package includes mostly Democratic wish list spending. perhaps you agree with the spending but it's not about stimulating the economy is a dollarwise fashion.

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by Archaea

My complaint is, it's couched as an economic stimulus package, i.e., creating jobs and infusing capital and liquidity into the market to create other jobs, yet instead his package includes mostly Democratic wish list spending. perhaps you agree with the spending but it's not about stimulating the economy is a dollarwise fashion.

Sort of like a defense bill that includes the same kind of crap as this one has. Like I said, the GOP should breathe a sigh of relief that they can vote against this in good conscience and not worry about being bashed by their own party leadership or president for doing so.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by BlueK

Sort of like a defense bill that includes the same kind of crap as this one has. Like I said, the GOP should breathe a sigh of relief that they can vote against this in good conscience and not worry about being bashed by their own party leadership or president for doing so.

All bills have pork attached (see: earmarks). But this one is specifically being sold as a stimulus package, which makes the offense especially heinous.

[SoCalCoug]

Originally Posted by Archaea

My complaint is, it's couched as an economic stimulus package, i.e., creating jobs and infusing capital and liquidity into the market to create other jobs, yet instead his package includes mostly Democratic wish list spending. perhaps you agree with the spending but it's not about stimulating the economy is a dollarwise fashion.

Fair enough.

[MikeWaters]

At least half the stimulus ought to go towards medical research. Just my opinion.