Earmarks investigation aside, Obama still king of the hill

The Washington Post investigated earmarks requested by current members of Congress, and a number of those earmarks raise serious questions about ethics—not in the sense of official ‘ethics,’ but real ones, the kind that resonate with Main Street. What many people may have forgotten: President Barack Obama’s astronomical earmarks during his brief time as a junior senator from Illinois.

Current members of Congress have admittedly directed US taxpayer dollars to questionable projects. Among them:

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Breitbart shakes up neo-libs, but most media miss the real point(s)

New media guru Andrew Breitbart once again has given the neo-lib tree a shake. Democrat House delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) who has been in Washington since before President Bill Clinton, is the latest target for Breitbart. Naturally that moves Breitbart into position as the target for what I think I’ll call poli-class media. Norton allegedly made a fundraising call to a lobbyist and the lobbyist didn’t answer—the call went to voicemail.

The voicemail recording apparently was sent to Breitbart. But the recording is a small issue in the scheme of things, in my opinion.

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Troubling truths for Democrats about the ‘Bush Tax Cuts’

The late Democrat senator Robert Byrd was the king of earmarks.Live long enough and you’ll learn one thing. The US Congress likes to spend money. For many years the mark of a good congressman was how much pork he could send home. There’s only one way to sustain that model and that is by increasing taxes, effectively moving private sector dollars into the hands of government bureaucrats. The king of the earmark model was the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Va.), a former Ku Klux Klan member, who earmarked more than $1 billion for his buddies back home.

Public records also show that President Barack Obama, as a short term US senator, was also skilled at earmarks. He contributed to the deficit he condemns at present. What really happens when Congress enacts a tax increase?

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As Recovery Bill headed for vote, pork reigned

by Roger King

Oink if you love pork like the U.S. Congress.The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,  one of the most partisan bills in history, was finally passed on Friday, Feb. 13, 2009. Prophetic date isn’t it? This 1,434 page bill was full of money for special interests.

Some economists say this bill would place an additional $9,400 tax burden on each household in America. However, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost of permanently extending the twenty most popular provisions in the bill at $3.27 trillion, which would triple this tax burden. What do you think the odds are of Congress actually cutting any provisions in the future?

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Taxpayers invited to Pelosi-Reid barbecue

Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse [by Paul Kelly/Environmental Protection Agency website](Washington, D.C.)—Taxpayers can now make plans for the biggest barbecue in American history as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) prepare a bonfire that will be fueled by billions of dollar bills. President Barack Obama is acting as unofficial emcee, stumping the country to sell the Democratic Congress plan that guarantees the sky will not fall. An added bonus, even if the sky does fall, is that the air will be cleaner despite all those dollar bills burning, because Democrats are eager to limit carbon emissions and create the next economic bubble for the country—alternative energy and Cap and Trade. Welcome to the most liberal ideology of all time. I would say ‘I told you so’ but you already know that if you read this column on a regular basis.

The Pelosi-Reid contingent says the ‘stimulus’ bill must be passed immediately, and supporters imply anyone who doesn’t support it is a dirty (conservative) dog. I hereby apologize to my trusty hound and constant companion for usurping his species to make a political point. So who are some beneficiaries of this bill?

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Community Reinvestment Act helped cause US economic meltdown

The US Congress is squabbling about how to deal with the economic mess and both parties have pointed the blame finger at each other. Truth is, we’re all to blame in a sense because we the people did nothing, and our Congress did nothing even when it could. So much for the “change” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) promised almost two years ago when her party assumed control of Congress.  No one’s mentioned the Community Reinvestment Act passed in 1977 under a Democratic Congress led by a Democratic president.

This act required depository institutions to “meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound banking operations.” Each institution’s record would be “taken into account in considering an institution's application for deposit facilities, including mergers and acquisitions.” Those quotes are from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Even as Congress takes up the current economic problem, we taxpayers do not have enough information about the causes or the solutions. I still want to know why a government sponsored entity promoted mortgages for a specific faith.

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