Senator Coburn Points to the Pork

By Bob Ellis on February 11th, 2009

A number of socialist readers have questioned material posted at Dakota Voice over the past few days which calls out the “porkulus” stimulus bill for what it is: a huge bloated porker.

They have asked, “Where’s the pork?” like that old lady in the 1980s Wendy’s commercial who was perpetually in search of the beef.

They’re like a man who walked into a tiger cage with his eyes closed and shouted, “Where’s the tiger? There’s no tiger in here!” even as the big cat licked his chops.

To give them some small measure of credit, however, the bill is so gargantuan as to discourage the average American from trying to figure it out (perhaps this is part of the plan).

But Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)–a great American–has helped the average American with that. Coburn issued this press release yesterday which said, in part:

“Instead of writing a bill that will work, Congress passed a bill that puts the ideological interests of one party ahead of the economic interests of the nation. The foundational principles behind this bill were tried and failed in the 1930’s. This bill represents the worst act of generational theft in our history. This bill will add $10,800 of debt to every American family with little hope of a return on our investment. If the economy improves it will be in spite of, not because of, this bill,” Dr. Coburn said, citing a CBO report that predicts the stimulus bill will cause our GDP to shrink over the long term.

Coburn was also kind enough to provide us with a partial list of all the tremendous waste in this bill

$2 billion earmark for FutureGen near zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, IL
$39 billion slush fund for “state fiscal stabilization” bailout
$5.5 billion for making federal buildings “green” (including $448 million for DHS HQ)
$200 million for workplace safety in USDA facilities
$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

This isn’t a plan to stimulate the American economy (which, incidentally, is still known as a private, free-market economy).

This is a shopping list for socialist gold-diggers out cruising for Big Government.

And Big Government always costs more than mere money–it costs the people their freedom.

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