R.S.F. America

Just to show you the Liberal spin being applied to the un-stimulus package of pork heading for the Senate, I intercepted this tidbit from MoveOn.org to their Leftist backers:

This week, the Senate will vote on President Obama’s economic stimulus plan—with historic investments in green jobs, health care, and education to get our economy back on track. But right now, the stimulus doesn’t have the votes to pass. 1 Republicans and conservative Democrats are teaming up to strip out the good stuff—college loan assistance, health research, tax cuts for poor folks, and more—in favor of more tax cuts for corporations. 2 If they don’t get their way, they’ll block the plan.

Last week, not a single Republican in the House voted for Obama’s plan—they didn’t think voters would ever hold them accountable. That’s why we’re asking folks to pledge now to help run ads after the vote letting the public know where key senators—both Republican and Democrat—came down on the bill. We need to get started now, so politicians and the media know their constituents are paying attention.

First of all, the Democrats already have the necessary votes to pass their bill but, knowing the deceit and inevitable failure inherent in this measure, they want Republican fingerprints on it so they don’t have to shoulder all the blame themselves.

Secondly, it is because their constituents are paying attention and they will be held accountable that so many politicians are opposing this debacle. Only 37 percent of Americans now think the bill is a good idea, according to Rasmussen Reports, down even further from last week.

Lastly, none of the items being propagandized by the kook-fringe groups are in question. This bill will simply stimulate nothing that helps our immediate economic situation, which is supposed to be its intent. Proponents will most likely strip out a few items as bargaining chips but unless they kill the whole thing, it’s just a bad bill — and a major step toward converting America into a failed, Socialist nation. Let’s see what’s really in there that responsible legislators find objectionable:

• $1 billion for Amtrak, which hasn’t earned a profit in four decades.
• $2 billion to help subsidize child care.
• $400 million for research into global warming.
• $2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere.
• $650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion.
• $600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments.
• $75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.
• $21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration.
• $2.25 billion for national parks. This item has sparked calls for an investigation, because the chief lobbyist of the National Parks Association is the son of Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisc.
• $335 million for treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
• $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. $4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which means a substantial amount of it will be captured by ACORN, the controversial activist group currently under federal investigation for vote fraud. Another $750 million would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN – meaning cities and states are barred from receiving that money. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., charges the money appears to be a “payoff” for the partisan political activities of these community groups during the last election cycle.
• $44 million to renovate the headquarters building of the Agriculture Department.
• $32 billion for a “smart electricity grid to minimize waste.
• $87 billion of Medicaid funds, to aid states.
• $53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs.
• $13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing.
• $20 billion for quicker depreciation and write-offs for equipment.
• $10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition.
• $20 billion over five years for an expanded food stamp program.

Republican leaders say the un-stimulus package will add 32 new government programs at a cost of $136 billion. One objection is that many of the programs, once established, are likely to continue indefinitely.

The $1.17 trillion ‘porkasbord’ passed by House Democrats bears little resemblance even to the bill originally proposed by Obama himself, with less than 5 percent of the expenditures now going to repair America’s deteriorating infrastructure.

This is not to say there aren’t some worthwhile projects being addressed but an alleged stimulus bill is not the place to address them. As House Minority whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., told the media, “This was not a stimulus bill. It was a spending bill.” Let your senator know you don’t like pork!

R.S.F.