Video: What do 9,000 earmarks look like?
posted at 9:55 pm on March 6, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
RSC chair Rep. Tom Price’s video is worth watching just to get a sense of scale. The pile on the left is the pork in the omnibus spending bill; the pile on the right, the rest of the bill. You’d think that the person most likely to become a Porkbuster in Washington DC would be the House clerk, who could cut the paperwork almost in half immediately:
Nine thousand, two hundred and eighty-six earmarks in the first budget bill of the Obama administration, and it’s pretty danged hard to miss. Odds on Obama spotting even one of them and fulfilling his anti-pork campaign rhetoric before he rushes to sign his own agenda into law? Better buy a Powerball ticket and wait to become rich instead.
Blowback
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Would there be anything left of the Powerball winnings after the dems have their way with it?!
Gohawgs on March 6, 2009 at 9:58 PM
The only good thing that I can say about this “budget” bill is that my 2 democrat Senators have NOT requested any earmarks. I guess they didn’t want another polite email from me :))…
Gohawgs on March 6, 2009 at 10:00 PM
If I heard it correctly on radio this morning, after winnimg $230 million powerball, the winners would only owe $30 million more in taxes beyond their winnings.
WashJeff on March 6, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Has anyone actually read this thing?
Still waiting for that “transparency” thingie Obama promised…let John Q. Public read any and all legislation prior to it being voted on. Waiting. Waiting.
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 10:02 PM
That’s just unreal.
nickj116 on March 6, 2009 at 10:06 PM
WashJeff, that extra $30 million is the argula tax
Gohawgs on March 6, 2009 at 10:07 PM
One big earmark was the dough given to Columbus OH to hire back the police academy class so that The One could appear before them and accept their gratitude, like a king, in front of the cameras. Too bad the funds from his spendulus slush fund only lasts a year. They will be laid off again at the end of this year!
PattyJ on March 6, 2009 at 10:10 PM
so much pork, yet no bacon….. I’m disappointed
Hyperion on March 6, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Even though Obama promised he’d veto legislation containing earmarks, or would go line by line and excise them before signing any legislation, both during his campaign and his seemingly endless post-inaugural campaigning his latest excuse is that this particular legislation is last year’s legislation.
Thought Obama was a Constitutional scholar of some kind, right?
That legislation filled with earmarks is on HIS watch, and he owns it the minute his pen hits the bottom line with his signature.
Obfuscating is too polite a word to describe the Rahm Emanuel Administration.
Let’s call it as it is. One big bright shining lie.
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 10:15 PM
For an Admin. claiming to be porkbusters they’re off to a rather stinky start in that regard. It was bad enough when the GOP did it when they had control and we were under the illusion our economy and our money had value and would somehow cover it but now there’s not even a hint of things going well with the economy and our govt is spending even more.
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result…. insanity.
Yakko77 on March 6, 2009 at 10:15 PM
A major caveat is needed here, though.
michaelo on March 6, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Impeach, recall, and arrest.
The last chance to save our nation and Constitution before insurrection….
MrScribbler on March 6, 2009 at 10:25 PM
The stack of paper is fairly high,
yet,
the pork,is about 2/3 of the height!
Let me do it,in another way so the Lefty
Trolls can grasp this rocket science!
————————————
—————————- This will represent the
stack over-all!
——————— And this line will represent
the pork!
canopfor on March 6, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Don’t talk about Obama’s earmarks!
SouthernGent on March 6, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Funny watching the gop Senators on the floor outraged about the pork then CNN shows how many millions they get.
Hypocrites.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 10:28 PM
The way to help stop this is to call Democratic Congress critters and express outrage that they are not living up to Obama’s campaign promise and a wasting our children’s money. Obama is too popular now. But the Dems in Congress are quite vulnerable.
pearson on March 6, 2009 at 10:30 PM
What do 9000 earmarks look like???
They look like one more reason for term limits!
JellyToast on March 6, 2009 at 10:32 PM
All I can say is this gives the GOP a chance to remake their brand as fiscal conservatives. I am not against all earmarks as a very few are good but I am against wasteful spending at this level. Obama may be more Lincolnesque than he ever expected if his spending extravaganza goes through, ie civil revolution.
goat on March 6, 2009 at 10:32 PM
Hypocrites = any of the Obama administration. Pick any member of the Executive Branch and you’ll see their picture next to the entry in your Funk & Wagnalls.
Gohawgs on March 6, 2009 at 10:32 PM
The true hypocrite is Obama, who promised many times, they he would not allow earmarks anymore. Then again, he also said there would be no lobbyists in his adm. Then again, he promised a new era of transparency. Obama is the supernova of hypocrisy.
pearson on March 6, 2009 at 10:33 PM
What did we learn today? Obama’s recession lost another 680,000 jobs last month. But don’t worry. He was in Ohio claiming that his pork bill generated 25 new jobs there! Just think, without Obama, we would have lost 680,025 jobs!
pearson on March 6, 2009 at 10:36 PM
In my daily missive to Barack today (http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/) I reminded him that spending money that you don’t have is a basic element of fiscal responsibility…that I learned at my father’s knee and have practiced all my life. My own ‘fiscal conservatism’ enabled me to navigate 3 layoffs over 20 years and I/we still own our home and have a wonderful nestegg and two paid-for cars. I urged him to veto the Omnibus spending bill. You can too. Just follow the link and, please be respectful.
LEBA on March 6, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Remember,Liberals don’t want any thinking
to be going on,
Its payback for over two hundred years of American history,
according to those,like Ayers/Dorhns/Alinsky,who are useing
Obama,
as the vechicle,in the form of a DOOMSDAY CATOSTROPHIC
FINANCIAL “CRISIS”,
To RIGHT the WRONGS of the past,
as in, Reperations of the past!!!!!!!!!
canopfor on March 6, 2009 at 10:38 PM
The problem is term limits cut both ways and the people being limited have to inact it. It is a double edged sword that eliminates the good guys and the bad. Having said that I am a supporter of term limits, 6 terms in the House and 3 in the Senate.
goat on March 6, 2009 at 10:38 PM
2010 is looking more promising all the time. Now if we can just find a few true fiscal conservatives to run!
conservnut on March 6, 2009 at 10:39 PM
conservnut on March 6, 2009 at 10:39 PM
I agree, ’10 could be another ’94 for us if we play our cards right.
goat on March 6, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Except after I “win” I’ll end writing a check for the well hidden & unknown lucky bum tax from the Crapulous Bill.
Those piles were quite big! What did the Crapulous Bill look like?
So Congress voted and passed a bill they didn’t even read. Sounds an awful like the people who signed mortgage docs without reading them. No wonder dogs and cats are living together now.
VikingGoneWild on March 6, 2009 at 11:03 PM
What One Trillion dollars look like.
michaelo on March 6, 2009 at 11:04 PM
I’m hearing that Sen. Lamar Alexander R(TN) is voting for these earmarks. SHAME. SHAME.
YOU VOTE FOR IT, YOU PAY FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If these earmarks are so vital to Congress, let the Congress Critters pay for it out of their own pockets. At the very least, they should take a month off and do some work (manual labor) on their pet earmark. Without the help of aids/staffers.
TN Mom on March 6, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Beat me to it.
VikingGoneWild on March 6, 2009 at 11:07 PM
If anything is that vital…why not propose separate legislation to address it instead of sneaking it in between the pages of a huge bill? Justify it from the well of the House or Senate. Fight for it.
Fact is, most of the earmarks are not vital. Nice to have, for some. Cheap way to pay back a particular constituency, or grease a few local palms. But vital? Not a bit.
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 11:10 PM
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 11:10 PM
It’s a mute point anyway. Obama is gonna ‘cut out all earmarks’. He promised
TN Mom on March 6, 2009 at 11:14 PM
oops.
moot point.
TN Mom on March 6, 2009 at 11:16 PM
So one must conclude that it is official Obama administration policy that the US Federal Government will not permit US citizens the freedom of cheap energy supplies.
We will be required to use only expensive sources of energy.
Second example in Michigan; cigarette taxes went ‘way up so folks started buying loose tobacco and rolling their own. The Result a one pound bag of loose tobacco will go from $19 to $70.
Oh, and cigarette smuggling and a black market are also a problem.
If y’all remember your American History, the first revolution was over taxes, and local governance.
Skandia Recluse on March 6, 2009 at 11:24 PM
I am sure this is what the Founding Fathers of the United States of America had in mind when they fought for our freedom, along with all those in unseen graves all over the world who wore the uniform to protect this Republic ……………………
………… what a disgrace. I feel like throwing up.
Seven Percent Solution on March 6, 2009 at 11:28 PM
I don’t wanna hear no preachin’ from democrat environmental tree-huggers based on all the trees killed for just ONE copy of that thing. Esp since I doubt many have even read it. What a bunch of hypocrites.
PrincipledPilgrim on March 6, 2009 at 11:31 PM
They nall need to be thrown out of office. It happens. Get them out. 2010 baby. Ya’ll don’t like this rap, quit voting it in!!!
johnnyU on March 6, 2009 at 11:32 PM
Yes, but one of my GA RINOs has pork in it. I have a scoresheet on my fridge keeping track of their every move so that I won’t forget a thing come next election. I’m thankful that Tom Price is my rep. Very thankful.
PrincipledPilgrim on March 6, 2009 at 11:36 PM
PRICE 2012!
I wish he would knock on Nancy Pelosi’s door or Harry Reid’s next for a little impromptu talk on the Porkulus. Put that up on Youtube.
seaplanes on March 6, 2009 at 11:36 PM
So glad to see NO ONE is feeding the troll…Ignore it and it will die…
Ltlgeneral64 on March 7, 2009 at 12:17 AM
It’s a better bet…. dream on sucka’s
Hog Wild on March 7, 2009 at 12:25 AM
At least when buying a Powerball ticket, it is a voluntary decision on my part, and if all the money goes to some guy in a doublewide at the end of a dirt road, yeah, I’ll be disappointed, but it is still a voluntary choice on my part to buy that ticket.
This Obama Stimulus, the pork-laden budget bill, and all the rest? Not voluntary on my part. And I resent a bunch of folks on Capital Hill thinking it is OK to dip into my pocket to pay for their favorite projects.
coldwarrior on March 7, 2009 at 12:34 AM
Strap some googly eyes on the bill and queue the Michael Jackson music, trail w/ voice-of-god, “That’s the money could be saving if you didn’t vote for Obama.”
“Bama!”
Over30 on March 7, 2009 at 1:46 AM
I just…
No seriously.
This is…
How again are we not headed to a revolution?
Or I am just naive and this has always been Washington’s way of doing things? Am I only now realizing the extent of their profligacy? I always knew there was corruption and waste, but I thought they were understood as shameful things, even among politicians.
But they dare do THAT at this time?
Don’t tread on me indeed.
Montana on March 7, 2009 at 2:00 AM
Same here in NY. I’ve been rolling my own at a tenth the cost of retail, the saving almost all from not paying the tax as the price is about the same as buying cigs at the Reservation. Now that they are raising the cost of bulk tobacco by up to 70%, I’m growing my own this year and other than the effort, it’ll be about 1/40th the cost. I know a few people who are starting cooperatives to grow it, too, which avoids the selling tripwire for taxes.
BTW, smuggling and black market are not problems, but solutions. Some the biggest smugglers in the colonies were those who signed the Declaration.
Dusty on March 7, 2009 at 2:21 AM
I heard on Hannity last night that the Federal Government could simply take all the money earned from all the wage earners of those who make $75,000 and up in this country and still would not have the money to pay for all the spending passed so far by Barry! That’s not tax the wages! That’s take all the wages!
sabbott on March 7, 2009 at 3:52 AM
Wall Street Journal creams Obama in Opinion, March 6th.
maverick muse on March 7, 2009 at 6:36 AM
Pinocchiobama sprouts donkey ears and nose with no end.
maverick muse on March 7, 2009 at 6:41 AM
Greenpeace should be protesting at the Capitol over the sheer number of trees that were cut down just to print this pork-laden monstrosity.
jimmy2shoes on March 7, 2009 at 6:51 AM
Tally the earmark total sum in dollars.
That total co$t = “No Obama Earmarks”
maverick muse on March 7, 2009 at 7:04 AM
How in the world do they manage all that.. how do they get the money to where it’s supposed to go?
What human being can comprehend all of this.
VinceP1974 on March 7, 2009 at 8:25 AM
Speaking of hypocrites, the Repub Senator fromt the great state of Mississipp, Thad (last name escapes me for now) has the most Repub credited earmarks. I heard that most of his earmarks track back to political contributors. Melt his phone off the wall. It’s time to get these free spending idiots out of congress, enough is enough!
kringeesmom on March 7, 2009 at 8:29 AM
I don’t know what 9,000 earmarks looks like; however, I do know what our lawmakers look like. I’m a plumber by trade, and I install piping that carries the face of the Democrat Party to their rightful destination.
I also know what financial impending doom looks like, as I watch our investments & savings go down the same pipe. Our government is purposely destroying our economy, our job makers, capitalism…
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW!!!!!
Keemo on March 7, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Exactly right! (getalife) and a few others have been allowed to hijack threads (make it all about themselves)on a daily basis… F*** them, ignore the asswipes…
Keemo on March 7, 2009 at 9:02 AM
HEIGHTENING THE CONTRADICTIONS: “The contrast is no longer between the young, personable, historic candidate Obama and a creaky, cranky old Republican White Guy, it’s between what America thought it was getting in a President Obama (cool, reasonable and beyond partisanship) and what it now sees as the reality of a President Obama (government spending out of control, an uncertain hand on foreign policy, broken promises, more bureaucrats, etc. etc.). Put another way – what we see now is neither what we were promised, nor what we expected.” (instapundit)
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/TapscottsCopyDesk/Obama-is-in-trouble-40864502.html
Good read…
Keemo on March 7, 2009 at 9:20 AM
I heard that he was beging targeted by the Democratic leadership as a possible “flip”, but the cut in the voucher program in DC next year is making him hesitant. That is why I sent him a polite and respectful email last night asking him not to vote for it, then I sent one to Bob Corker asking him to encourage Senator Alexander not to vote for it, and then I sent another email to my representative asking him to encourage Senator Alexander not to vote for it.
Good grief, I am fortunate enough to have 2 GOP senators and a GOP rep, and I still have to worry that one of them will commit generational theft.
ladyingray on March 7, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Over at Instapundit…..Glenn Reynolds has link to the Complete Crisis For Dummies….It is under one word…..MELTDOWN
There are links under most of the pictures. Printed out it is over 20 pages.
McLame says he is going to get to the bottom of crisis, this guy has already signed, sealed, and delivered.
nondhimmie on March 7, 2009 at 9:55 AM
George Gilder, writing in the Claremont Review of Books:POWERLINE
The experts. . .now completely in control of Washington [are] attempting to spend their way to political dominance, while taking well over half the voters off the federal tax rolls and giving actual taxpayers a greater incentive to hide and shuffle existing wealth than to earn or create new wealth. . . .But globalization means that entrepreneurial creativity — in which the United States is increasing its lead — can survive by adopting foreign locales and resources. Countries such as Israel (a global cernter of innovation) and Ireland (a low tax haven), China (a manufacturing dervish), and India (ascendant in software) are taking the lead and will help capitalism survive the Lilliputians currently trying to ruin it in the U.S.
What will matter, after all, is not whether President Obama approves of markets but whether markets approve of President Obama, who may think he has protected his future by buying off he middle class with tax rebates but will soon discover that his future will be decided by global markets for currencies and stocks.
Keemo on March 7, 2009 at 10:06 AM
What does Barry’s birth certificate look like?
BHO Jonestown on March 7, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Hey, I just uncovered another needless Obama earmark.
Well, decide for yourself… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4he0bx9wY7I&feature=channel
CliffHanger on March 7, 2009 at 6:25 PM
40% of the earmarks in this fraud were authored and perpetrated by members of the republican party.Does that just make them 40% corrupt? Does that just make them 40 socialist? Does that just make them 40% irresponsible?
paulsur on March 7, 2009 at 10:06 PM