$1.1 Trillion.
One. Point. One. TRILLION.
That’s the end-of-the-day cost of Porkulus if it gets through in the present form.
It’s quite simple really. We can’t afford it.
I want to tell my sons, I’m sorry. I’m sorry we let it get this far. I’m sorry we let the government get away with this monstrosity.
It is simply absurd.
Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn’s objections. Senator Coburn has released a partial list of objectionable spending items.
$39 billion slush fund for “state fiscal stabilization” bailout
$5.5 billion for making federal buildings “green” (including $448 million for DHS HQ) $275 million for flood prevention
$65 million for watershed rehabilitation
$200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries
$650 million for the DTV transition coupon program
$307 million for constructing NIST office buildings
$1 billion for administrative costs and construction of NOAA office buildings
$100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings
$300 million for constructing FBI office buildings
$800 million for constructing Federal Prison System buildings and facilities
$10 million to fight Mexican gunrunners
$1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for “science” at NASA)
$100 million to clean up sites used in early U.S. atomic energy program
$10 million for urban canals
$2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars
$1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though section only authorizes $1 billion for five years)
$300 million for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees
$198 million to design and furnish the DHS headquarters
$255 million for “priority procurements” at Coast Guard (polar ice breaker)
$500 million for State and local fire stations
$180 million for construction of Bureau of Land Management facilities
$500 million for wildland fire management
$110 million for construction for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
$522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
$650 million for abandoned mine sites
$75 million for the Smithsonian Institution
$1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth
$412 million for CDC headquarters
$500 million earmark for NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD
$160 million for “volunteers” at the Corp. for National and Community Service
$750 earmark for the National Computer Center in MD
$224 million for International Boundary and Water Commission – U.S. and Mexico
$850 million for Amtrak
$100 million for lead paint hazard reduction
Why I Vote “No” On the Stimulus
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, TownHall
Ultimately, this “solution” will result only in the accumulation of greater debt that will fall on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren while not providing what we need today. Moreover, it will leave us vulnerable to future economic challenges. A better proposal would emphasize tax relief so that individuals and businesses can have more capital to inject into the economy, thereby encouraging private-sector job creation. It would also guard against government expansion. In short, we should promote permanent private sector jobs, not a permanent increase in spending and debt.
Read more.
First, Do No Harm
Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard
Republicans understand the recession causes pain they must deal with. Extending unemployment benefits is necessary with the jobless rate rising to 7.6 percent. For those who lose their health insurance along with their job, a bonus benefit could be added to pay at least for catastrophic insurance. All this can be done for tens of billions, not the many hundreds demanded by Obama and Democrats.
Read more.
Here’s a beautiful story: Freepers, other citizens storm Sen. Specter’s Office on Porkulus
Melanie Morgan
Liz Colby Harp brought her five homeschooled children so Specter could see whom he is saddling with trillions of dollars of debts. She was gracious, intelligent and dead on with her remarks.
Read more.
Act Now! NO STIMULUS
The Write Side of My Brain 
It’s the same way we funded the war on Iraq.
Did you cry about it then?
Republicans are great at saying no but what is their idea for solving the problem?
Tax cuts alone won’t do it, and tax cuts raise the deficit just as much as extra spending. I will agree that the thought of having to repay all of that money is frightening, but not as frightening as what could happen if we do nothing.
Little One, I believe the term you need here is “non sequitur.” Argue all you want about the funding for Iraq. I’ve said numerous times that parts of the war were not well managed. But that’s not the point.
The lie we’re being told is that Porkulus will “stimulate” the economy and it will do nothing of the kind. It’s a payoff to democratic constituencies and it’s designed to reelect Obama, Reid and Pelosi.
No one is saying the government doesn’t have legitimate expenses. What we’re saying is that there’s little legitimacy in this bill.
Kyle, you’ve read me long enough to know that I’ve consistently said that tax cuts must be accompanied by spending cuts. The government is too large. You’d have to be blind not to see that.
And several Republicans tried to offer alternative plans, they were shut out by the Democratic “leadership.”
Wouldn’t spending cuts be adding fuel to the fire? Regardless of what Michael Steel says, almost every dollar the government spends eventually ends up creating or sustaining a job somewhere.
I wish conservatives in Congress would have stuck to their principles and reduced spending back when they were in power and times were better. But it is too late for that now.
I will agree with many of the commentators that the process of chosing where to spend the money was too much like a free for all, and not well enough planned for the desired effect. At this point it is better than any other possible alternatives.
Kyle, you’ll get no argument from me about how the Republicans squandered their majority, as well as how spending, domestic and otherwise grew exponentially under George W. Bush. But that doesn’t mean the principles of less spending, less taxation are wrong or that they don’t work. Because they most certainly do work.
And no, while it does look like it’s too late to stop Porkulus, this is not better than other possible situations. Time will prove me right on that.