I watched the final Bush SOTU address last night. It was nothing spectacular. However one thing did catch my attention.
Last Night, President George Bush Pledged To Rein In Pork Barrel Spending By Cutting Earmarks In Half:
President Bush Pledged To Veto Any Spending Bill That Does Not Cut Earmark Spending In Half. he said he will use his veto pen and administrative powers to try to rein in the proliferation of earmarks, the projects inserted by lawmakers into annual spending bills and totaling roughly $17 billion in the last budget. Bush warned he would veto any spending bill that does not cut in half the number and cost of earmarks from the year before. He also said he will sign an executive order requiring agencies to ignore any earmark not included in the language of legislation. Well, AMEN!
President Bush: "The people's trust in their government is undermined by congressional earmarks."
Yet Hillary as president would toss gas on the fire.
Sen. Clinton Has Requested At Least $530 Million In Earmarks In Three Of The Twelve Annual Appropriations Bills. "A review of the first three appropriations conference reports finished by Senate and House negotiators shows that Clinton has successfully requested at least $530 million worth of projects." (Alexander Bolton, "Clinton Tops 2008 Rivals, Gets $530M In Earmarks," The Hill, 11/9/07)
Sen. Clinton Had More Earmarks In The 2008 Defense Appropriations Bill Than All But One Democrat, Totaling $148 Million. "In the fiscal 2008 defense-spending bill alone, Clinton successfully attached 26 earmarks worth $148 million, which was the most of any Democrat except Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, who is now chairman of the Armed Services Committee." (Kevin Hassett, Op-Ed, "Hillary Clinton Reigns As Queen Of Federal Pork," Bloomberg News, 10/8/07)
Sen. Clinton's Pet Projects Have "Questionable Public Value," Such As Earmarking Nearly Half-A-Million Dollars In Taxpayer Money For The Seneca Knitting Mill And The Buffalo Urban Arts Center.
Sen. Clinton Has Refused To Make Her Earmark Information Public, Unlike Other Democrat Presidential Candidates. Only Barack Obama has voluntarily made his earmark information publicly available. The others are covering their tracks. ... The Clinton campaign refused to respond at all to requests that she identify her earmarks.
And Sen. Clinton Attempted To Secure $1 Million In Funds For A Campaign Contributor's Woodstock Museum! I'm serious... The Senate Appropriations Committee Approved A Request From Sen. Clinton And Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) For $1 Million For A Woodstock Concert Museum.
A million bucks for a museum honoring a drug induced 3 day celebration of rebellion. Yeah, there was some cool music but it's not worth a million dollars.
The million-dollar earmark was included in a Senate education spending bill that came out of committee on June 21. The Project's Primary Backer, Alan Gerry, Contributed At Least $18,600 To Sen. Clinton Since 2005. On June 26, the Gerrys and two of their children who sit on the foundation's board made $20,000 in contributions to the Schumer-led Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. On June 30, the couple made $9,200 in contributions to Clinton's presidential campaign -- the maximum allowed by law.
The Senate-Passed Prohibition On Funds For The Woodstock Museum Was Stripped In The Conference Report. "The conference report on the bill removes the prohibition on funds for the 'hippie' museum passed by the Senate but does not actually authorize the $1 million. A phone call from Schumer to the Health and Human Services Department could restore the funding. But Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who led the unexpectedly successful floor fight against the earmark, thinks Schumer will not defy the will of the Senate. Sen. Hillary Clinton, Schumer's fellow Democrat from New York and co-sponsor of the Woodstock earmark, has given no such assurance to Coburn." (Robert Novak, Op-Ed, "Musharraf And Bhutto Turn To Sen. Biden Before Talking To Bush," Chicago Sun-Times, 11/11/07)
If Hillary becomes president, be ready to have her spend your money how she sees fit.
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